#5 Ways In Which Rural Entrepreneurship Contribute To Indian Economy The development of rural entrepreneurs is a complex issue, which can be tackled by social, political and economic institutions.
By Kuldip Maity
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Entrepreneurs are people who create and develop enterprises and likewise "entrepreneurship" is the process through which enterprises are set up. It also charts their growth and progress. But, the growth and development of rural entrepreneurs are complex issues, which can be tackled by social, political and economic institutions. The sooner they are established, the better it would be for the commercial development in the rural sector and the subsequent economic growth of our country.
In the micro-finance industry, we consider rural areas as places of opportunities for new entrepreneurs. Despite all the inadequacies in rural areas, we should assess and make good use of their strengths and strengthen them to make rural areas as "places of opportunities'. In a country like India, there is much to do with the way we see the reality of the rural areas. Rural psychology is attuned to promoting new ideas and innovation, more so because job opportunities are limited there. We should encourage entrepreneurs to think positively, creatively and with an entrepreneurship- building mindset to promote their growth. Young people with such perspective and with the help of rightly channelized efforts would usher in an era of thriving rural entrepreneurship.
Rural entrepreneurship will augur well for our country in a number of ways.
First, it will provide employment opportunities. Rural entrepreneurship is labour intensive and provides a clear solution to the growing problem of unemployment. Development of industrial units in the rural areas through rural entrepreneurship has high potential for employment generation and income creation.
Secondly, it can help check the migration of people from rural to urban areas in search of jobs. Rural entrepreneurship can plug the big gap and disparities in income between rural and urban people. It will usher in modern infrastructural facilities.
On the other hand PM's "Make in India' project has induced major initiatives, policy changes and a slew of reforms that put India on the global industrial map as one of the fastest growing economies and one of the most attractive investment destinations in the world. So we must think seriously to promote entrepreneurship in a large scale, reaching out to the every corner of our country. Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) was created to refinance micro business under the scheme titled Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana. It can also create a balanced regional growth, dispel the concentration of industrial units in urban areas and promote regional development in a balanced way.
Rural entrepreneurship has the potential to promote artistic activities. A large section of the bearers of traditional heritage and culture lives in rural areas. They create artistically brilliant handicraft pieces and are equally good in the performing arts sectors. The age-old rich heritage of rural India can be preserved by protecting and promoting art and handicrafts through rural entrepreneurship. Recently, on the occasion of the International Women's Day we had felicitated 17 successful women entrepreneurs from different areas of our country, they are mainly from rural or semi-urban areas.
In a country like India, where people are still fighting on the issue of unemployment with 83.3 crore out of the total 121 crore Indians living in rural areas, rural entrepreneurship can awaken the youth there and expose them to various avenues to adopt entrepreneurship and promote it as a career option. It will bring in an overall change in the quality of lives of people and address social ills like illiteracy, child marriage, migration and women empowerment among many others.