New Delhi, Dec 8 (KNN) In order to help Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) of Punjab, Punjab Cabinet Minister, Brahm Mohindra wrote a letter to Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley narrating woes of Punjab’s SME sector.

He urged him to take up the case of Punjab’s SME sector with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to be more lenient towards the SMEs with annual turnover of Rs.1 crore to 10 crores.

He requested him to provide SMEs a breather of deferment of repayment schedule of their financial liabilities for a period of at least one year.

 He said this could help them realign their priorities in line with new challenges being faced by them.

 “I would like to draw your attention to the hardships being faced by the Small and Medium Enterprises of Punjab due to the aftermath of a decade of militancy,” letter stated.

It added, “SMEs are acclaimed as backbone of an economy in general and secondary sector in particular, as they address various economic woes like unemployment, poverty, income inequalities and regional imbalances.”

“With even meager investment in comparison to various large scale private and public enterprises, the SMEs are found to be more proficient in creating employment opportunities at a relatively lower cost,” it added.

The letter also raised issues like high cost of raw material, limited access to global market, lack of manpower, stringent labour laws and absence of business-friendly environment.

SMEs also feel plagued by various challenges like poor infrastructure to increase production capacity, lack of adequate funds, little scope for innovation, technology knowledge gaps, lack of training skills and inability to attract tech-savvy talent.

Current policy initiatives, such as Digital India and Skill India, are focused on helping SMEs become digitally literate and train their manpower to develop necessary digital skills, the letter said.         

“SMEs need recourse to innovation, take their businesses online, accept e-payments, upgrade existing technological know-how and compete globally,” it added.

Letter highlighted, “Operating on low margins and funds, they cannot afford payment of attractive salaries.  Hence, they struggle when trying to hire candidates with digital competence.”