Lucknow, Nov 4 (KNN) Uttar Pradesh (UP) has been placed among top five states of the country for generating employment in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector during COVID-19  pandemic.

According to a recent report of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), UP has secured a place ahead of Karnataka, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana and Telangana in the list of top 10 states.

The states ahead of Uttar Pradesh are Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

''UP has become the fifth state to generate the highest number of jobs in the MSME sector. The state has achieved the fifth position in the ranking prepared by the RBI after leaving behind states like Rajasthan, Karnataka, Delhi and Punjab,'' read the statement.

''This happened because the state government took it seriously and proactively they asked all the districts administration to create or look for creating jobs for these migrants who returned during COVID pandemic to their native villages,'' a Gurugram based industrialist Dr. Animesh Saxena, told KNN India.

''Due to proactive actions of the UP government and creating opportunities for migrants in their own state this is something which has helped the government to achieve a place among top five states.'' he added.     

Yogendra Kapoor, an Economist while commenting on the same said that UP  enjoys availability of cost efficient  labour in comparison to other states and this is one of the reasons for this which has helped the state government.

‘’UP has scored 2nd place among all states in India in Business Reform Action Plan report for the year 2019. The state has made consistent efforts for creation of the balanced ecosystem of trust and positive sentiments with the business industry by working to do labour reforms wherein the employer can hire and fire employees without its approval in a much relaxed manner,’’ said  Kapoor.

He further added that availability of land for businesses with relaxed terms and conditions, concessional rates with tax benefits and exemptions, availability of power, time bound approvals and measures to reduce regulatory laws and Permissions are also some reasons  for this achievement.   

Notably, the state government signed MOUs with FICCI and IIA to give jobs to 6 lakh workers. Also, MOUs with institutes like NAREDCO and Laghu Udyog Bharti were signed to generate 5 lakh jobs in the private sector.

Yogi Adityanath led UP government also set up new MSME units and is facilitating the distribution of loans to entrepreneurs for this. A new portal 'Sathi' was also launched to help entrepreneurs set up new units.

According to an official spokesman, the government also plans to set up 1000 new units across the state in its efforts to generate more employment and also help people learn entrepreneurial skills.

The government also said that 90 MSME units were operational in the state and the ‘One District One Product’ (ODOP) scheme of the government proved to be a game changer.

“In the ODOP scheme, started under the MSME sector, people were given employment and business on a local level. The MoU with companies like Amazon and Flipkart for online business gave the scheme a new speed,” the statement read.

As a result, the small districts like Jaunpur, Etah, Pilibhit, Mirzapur and Pratapgarh have become centres for employment due to successful implementation of ODOP.