Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram today launched the first social impact fund registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Called the DICCI (Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry) SME Fund, it is a venture capital corpus. Initiated by the Dalit chamber, it aims to raise Rs 500 crore over 10 years and finance dalit entrepreneurs to set up businesses. The fund was launched with an initial contribution of Rs 10 crore by the Small Industries Development Bank of India. Agreeing that availability of finance was an issue for smaller enterprises, the minister said every bank branch in the country should hand-hold at least one scheduled caste/tribe entrepreneur from amongst the hundreds of its customers.
"We will (then) have 100,000 flowers blooming in the country," he observed. Chidambaram said he'd also ask public sector financial institutions, banks and the Life Insurance Corporation to invest in the DICCI SME Fund. He added this first dalit fund would go a long way in creating social equity.
"We in India have for centuries masked the fact that we discriminated against one quarter of our own people. The Constitution of India provided for equality, as also affirmative action. Reservation may be a blunt instrument but it is a useful instrument in the absence of a better alternative," he said. Complimenting the DICCI for its initiative, the minister said it had shown that acquiring economic power was a better instrument. "There is no better way to seek livelihood with dignity than being an entrepreneur standing on his own legs," he added.
Underlining the United Progressive Alliance government's commitment on promoting inclusive growth, Chidambaram said the small and medium enterprises route was the right path for empowerment of SC/ST entrepreneurs. He said the newly announced Public Procurement Policy mandates 20 per cent of all government and public procurement to be made from the the medium, small and micro enterprises sector. It further stipulates four per cent of all purchases be made from firms run by SC/ST entrepreneurs.
