Dalit entrepreneurship gains identity, expands wings

Neglected for years, Dalit entrepreneurship is now gaining momentum and getting ready to expand horizon and do business with big industrial houses.

The Dalit India Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DICCI), which early this month held its first trend setting mega expo in the city to showcase products of member- entrepreneurs, is now ready to branch out to other parts of the country with the establishment of a National Business Advisory Council.

"We are in the process of opening up DICCI offices in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and also in the north, creating five zones to keep the momentum going after receiving a heartening response to the trade exhibition in which 150 Dalit entrepreneurs participated," Milind Kamble, President of the city-based DICCI, told PTI.

The expo, which displayed wide-ranging industrial products manufactured by Dalit entrepreneurs covering engineering, construction, leather, food processing and service industry segments, had opened up vast opportunities for them as big industrial houses were now interested in doing business with them, he said.

The first tangible positive outcome of the DICCI exercise, aimed at having a direct access to the market for its members, is the Tata Group's invitation to ten Dalit entrepreneurs to make presentation before their Vendor Selection Board in Pune on June 23, according to Kamble.

DICCI represents Dalit entrepreneurs whose annual business turnover is over Rs 50 lakh. The Pune-headquartered association has branches in Mumbai, Kolhapur, Nagpur and Nashik.

Explaining the reason behind setting up of DICCI and pioneering the Dalit trade Expo, Kamble said the Dalit movement up till now was in a vacuum as it neglected the industrial arena while putting stress on social, political and educational domains for their uplift.

It was felt that notwithstanding their talent and competence, a large number of Dalit entrepreneurs were compromised in profit earnings because of the routing of their products through third parties as a result of historical bias to which the community is subjected, he said.

Kamble said the Pune DICCI Expo had paved the way for Dalit entrepreneurs to supply ancillaries directly to big industrial houses and to become vendors and bag franchises on the strength of their products and talent.

Appreciating the role played by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in supporting the expo, he said DICCI would serve as a bridge between the apex industrial chamber and Dalit entrepreneurs to spot excellence among its members and doing away with economic exclusion.