Guwahati: The government is focussing on providing support to existing small units and encouraging creation of such enterprises, Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises K H Muniyappa said on Wednesday.

“The mission of our Ministry is to promote growth and development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, including khadi, village and coir industries, in cooperation with concerned ministries, departments, state governments and other stakeholders,” he said at a high-level meeting with Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and senior officials here.

The Minister said the MSME Ministry wants to reach out to the young and educated people to set up new enterprises.

Muniyappa asked the Chief Minister to instruct deputy commissioners to prepare the list of beneficiaries within a time-frame of three months for extending loan assistance and banks have been instructed to advance loans to such enterprises without asking for collateral guarantee.

Gogoi directed officials to take up the matter with the deputy commissioners for submission of the list of beneficiaries within the stipulated time.

The Union Minister said the margin money for khadi and village industries would be raised from Rs 66 crore to Rs 100 crore which would benefit 12,000 beneficiaries during 2013-14.

Appreciating the initiative, the Chief Minister said the government which has all along laid emphasis on the development of the small and medium scale industries, would set aside more funds for khadi and village industries next financial year as it has huge potential in generating employment opportunities.

Muniyappa further said Assam had a poor rate of credit ratio and he would ask the banks to enhance the flow of credit to MSMEs. “All the commercial banks should achieve a 20 per cent growth in credit year-on-year to micro and small enterprises and strictly adhere to the allocation of 60 per cent thereof to micro enterprises to ensure enhanced credit flow,” he added.

The credit ratio is 40 to 50 per cent in the state, while the national average is about 70 per cent. Muniyappa praised the State Government for exceeding the physical target under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP).

MSME Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner Amarendra Sinha said the ministry has called for strict implementation of RBI norms for micro and small units – a move that can boost the financing for the MSMEs.

“The MSME ministry has asked the Finance Ministry to ask banks to give collateral free loans of up to Rs 10 lakh to micro and small enterprises, which is mandatory upon them as per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guideline,” Sinha added.

The RBI had raised the limit of collateral free loan for MSEs from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh in 2010. Sinha called for support from the state government for building up necessary infrastructure for the downstream industries coming up from the Gas Cracker Project.

Sinha also sought cooperation from the state government for implementing the Public Procurement Policy for assisting the MSMEs in increasing their market share. (PTI)

Guwahati: Accusing principal opposition party All India United Democratic Front of making provocative statements during campaigning for the panchayat polls, ruling Congress on Wednesday said such comments can inflame passion and affect peace and amity in Assam.

“AIUDF and its leader Maulana Badruddin Ajmal have in recent times made some statements which are provocative in nature. The statements made by Ajmal at many panchayat polls meeting are condemnable and could affect peace and amity among people,” Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhubaneshwar Kalita told reporters here.

He accused Ajmal of inciting AIUDF supporters to “throw stones” at Congress party meetings and also attack vehicles used by the ruling party during campaign. Kalita also attacked Asom Gana Parishad and BJP and said both the parties have no faith in the panchayati raj system.

“The opposition attacks such on the issue of corruption. However, the fact is that panchayati raj has brought decentralisation of power to the local level.

“There were no panchayat polls in the state when AGP was ruling Assam and NDA was in power in the centre. For them, panchayat polls are mere elections and they have no faith in the system,” Kalita said.

He said while Congress is contesting all the seats across Assam, the opposition parties are limited in their influce to certain areas only. “AIUDF is not contesting in Upper Assam districts, while AGP and BJP have also failed to put up their candidates in many areas. On the contrary, we are contesting all the seats and are sure about a good show,” Kalita said.

Regarding dissidence in the party over allocation of tickets, he said many rebel candidates have been expelled for six years but refrained from giving a number about such candidates.

Asked about statements made against the state party by some senior Congress leaders, Kalita said: “We have warned such people to refrain from making statements before the media. Congress believes in inner-party democracy but there is a limit to everything.”

Regarding criticism faced by the party over use of helicopters for campaigning in the panchayat polls, Kalita said the party has used only one chopper.

“We have to use choppers for campaigning due to time constraint. Using choppers does not mean indulging in luxury,” he said. (PTI)

Guwahati: An estimated 65 per cent electorate exercised their franchise in the first phase of the panchayat elections in Assam which was marked by minor incidents of irregularities related to electoral rolls.  Voting began at 7 a.m in eight upper Assam districts and ended at 3 p.m. The voting percentage is expected to go up as final reports were yet to come in, official sources said here. Irregularities in electoral rolls with names of eligible voters missing and wrong symbols printed were reported from some polling centres in Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Nagaon, Sibsagar and Golaghat districts due to which polling in these centres had to stopped.  The Commission had appointed 16 observers to ensure smooth and fair conduct of the polls in 8269 polling stations. The districts which went to polls in the first phase were Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Sivasagar, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Golaghat and Nagaon.   The second and third phases of the panchayat poll are scheduled on February 6 and 12 respectively. (PTI)

From Our Correspondent

 Agartala: The Congress-INPT-NCT combine would come to power with comfortable majority in the coming Assembly elections, said Pradesh Congress president Sudip Roy Barman.

The end of Manik Sarkar led government is drawing nearer since ‘deprived’ people are determined to topple the 20 years of Marxist misrule, he said while speaking at the Meet the Press organized by Agartala Press Club here on Wednesday.

Asserting that the Congress would fulfill all promises given in the election manifesto within five years, Roy Barman noted that the state government employees are deprived of central pay scale due to lack of will on the part of the government. Not only employees, the Left Front government has failed to address the unemployment problem over the past 20 years.

Roy Barman said, “Dreams of people have been shattered in the Marxist regime. Now, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar is dreaming conspiracy to retain the power by any means”.

Coming down heavily on the CPM led government, PCC president said wealth of only one percent CPM leaders is swallowing in the Marxist regime while major section of people remains deprived.

Hitting hard on the so-called development, Roy Barman alleged corruption and partycracy take front stage in the Manik Sarkar led government. “The twin words- corruption and partycracy will be wiped out if the Congress led combine is voted to power in the February 14 elections”, he said.

On being asked about the nexus between outlawed group and political party, Roy Barman said, “We are in favour of constituting a commission by a sitting Supreme Court judge to clear the air centering the sensitive issue. However, the Left Front it seems against our view to do dirty politics on it”.

On the arrest of his elder brother with fire arms, Roy Barman said, “ It was a conspiracy to malign the Congress ahead of the Assembly elections.”