New Delhi, Dec 15 (KNN) Demonetization or ‘Notebandi’ has brough a great opportunity for the government to bring the invisible informal sector into the formal economy, said industry body FISME.

But it is also a ‘between the Devil and Deep sea’ situation for the marginal entrepreneurs, who have so far neither received any support from the Government, nor contributed ‘directly’ in the Government kitty, it added.

According to a press release, FISME said, “If they (MSMEs) go for cash less transactions, their entire operation will be visible to the ‘Inspectors’ making them liable for a plethora of ‘taxes’ some direct and some indirect.”

To bring out the unorganised sector from the crisis, Dr Sangam Kurade, President, FISME, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, seeking his intervention  towards a  comprehensive amnesty, or safe passage, in taxation (direct and indirect) and labour/social security costs.

The Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) has asked for two crucial policy interventions i) in Taxation, the enterprises are promised that their records of previous years will not be opened and they will not be harassed, once they pledge for disclosure and compliance and  ii) in labour laws, not only is an amnesty, but urgent reforms to make compliance feasible, as promised by the Finance Minister in his Budget speech for alternative option for ESI and EPF.

On the labour welfare related issues for the micro enterprises, FISME’s prescription to Mr. Modi are: i)  the threshold of salary for mandatory Provident Fund deductions should be raised; the Employer’s contribution should be fixed @ 10%,  while the contribution from employee should be made voluntary as already announced  for apparel sector and ii) complete  waiving of the  ESI contribution for these marginal employers and their workers with  the responsibility of providing medical facilities  be taken up by the State itself as done  for Central Government employees.

The letter has been tweeted and re-tweeted widely among the MSME fraternity and the entire ‘micro’ sector of 4 crore plus enterprises with 90% of non- agricultural workforce are looking eagerly to  PM Modi to emerge as a ‘Messiah’ for the people at the bottom of the Pyramid, FISME release said.

Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) is a national body of MSME associations with a network of more than 700 associations. (KNN Bureau)