National SC/ST Hub to be launched on Oct 8

A hub to provide support to entrepreneurs belonging to SC/ST communities will be launched here next month with an initial outlay of Rs 490 crore.
The National SC/ST Hub, under the MSME Ministry, was announced in the Budget. It will work towards strengthening market access/linkage, monitoring, capacity building, leveraging financial support schemes and sharing industry best practices.
Union Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSME) Minister Kalraj Mishra said the Narendra Modi government is keen to inculcate the spirit of self-employment among the SC/ST population and urged upon all stakeholders, especially industry associations, to take up the initiative in mission mode.

He said the ministry has made an initial allocation of Rs 490 crore for the period 2016-2020 for the National SC/ST Hub, according to an official statement.
The hub would operate from National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Headquarters in Delhi, supported by a special cell created for this purpose.
It would also enable Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) to fulfil the procurement target set by the government. The Public Procurement Policy 2012 stipulates that 4 per cent of procurement done by Ministries, Departments and CPSEs would have to be from enterprises owned by SC/ST entrepreneurs.
Minister of State for MSME Giriraj Singh emphasised the need to work at the grassroot level and start work on a pilot basis with identified CPSEs in the districts having large presence of SC/ST entrepreneurs.

Government had earlier issued guidelines related to setting up of the National Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Hub.