CHENNAI: Governor K Rosaiah on Wednesday called upon students to cultivate entrepreneurial skills and marketing ability in order to be job givers and not job seekers.
Inaugurating a seminar on ‘Entrepreneurship for women’, organised by Queen Mary’s College and South India Women Entrepreneurs Association, he said the state government’s Vision Document-2023 aimed at facilitating greater access to finance, technology, market access and enhancing infrastructure to create more micro, small and medium entrepreneurs. “In Tamil Nadu, the MSME sector provides employment to about 63.18 lakh persons and accounts for a total investment of `67,000 crore,” he pointed out.
“Be it in school education or higher education or offering assistance to women or in uplift of women, the Tamil Nadu government has always been in the forefront to be a source of motivation and a guiding spirit to women,” he said.
The Governor appealed to the students to make use of the opportunities and cultivate entrepreneurial skills and the habit of risk taking for a worthwhile enterprise.
Earlier, Principal Secretary and Industries Commissioner Swaran Singh said the State had the highest number of factories in the country and its exports constituted 17 per cent of the total Indian exports. “There are 8.51 lakh entrepreneurs registered in the MSME sector, which is the highest in the whole country,” he pointed out.
Listing out various government schemes for aspiring women entrepreneurs, he said amounts ranging from `5 lakh to `one crore were available as loans, along with subsidies. However, there was lack of awareness of the schemes. Hence, seminars should be conducted in all colleges and districts about the schemes, loan facilities, capital subsidies and other facilities to spread awareness among women, he added. The Governor distributed mementoes to the best women entrepreneurs and also released a souvenir to mark the occasion.