New Delhi, 08th November 2021:The Delhi Government will roll out a policy on start-ups and a film policy within a month thereby showcasing a different version of the city, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Manish Sisodia said at an ASSOCHAM webinar today.
“We have made a very progressive start-up policy and a film policy that will be rolled out within a month which will bring out a new version of Delhi and help boost the city's per-capita income, create job opportunities and improve people's living standards as when the city's economy grows it will reflect in people's lifestyle,” said Mr Sisodia while addressing an ASSOCHAM e-conclave on ‘Dilli Ki Soch.’
“We intend to do this in collaboration with people of Delhi, business community, civil society and other relevant stakeholders,” he added.
He also informed that the Delhi Government has started a unique programme for students from class 9-12 whereby a new subject has been introduced i.e., ‘Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum,’ to encourage and develop a mindset amid students to become an entrepreneur. “Under this programme we will provide Rs 2,000 seed money to the students to use it to develop unique business ideas. We will also approach industry to support, train and coach them further.”
He further said, “We have offered this to Delhi's 3 lac students of classes 11-12, I am proud to share that of these about 90 per cent students have already made 51,000 teams and generated 51,000 business ideas i.e., new start-ups to the tune of 51,000 have been initiated and the Government is providing them with Rs 60 crore worth seed money. This a very big opportunity for the entire business world.”
The Deputy CM also shared that Delhi Government has prepared a blueprint for city's development and improvement in the lifestyle of its people with a view to provide ease of living and has set a goal to achieve during next 25 years marking 100 years of India's independence.
“The current year marks the 75 years of India's independence, today it is also time to plan what our city should look like in the 100th anniversary of the culmination of our country's freedom struggle,” said Mr Sisodia.
He also said that considering job generation is a huge challenge for us, the Government of Delhi plans to develop the city as a hub for trade and services, especially IT services. “We plan to invite new age entrepreneurs, businessmen as we cannot set up production industry that emit pollution.”
Highlighting that Delhi has a very progressive Electric Vehicle Policy, he said during its review last week, some members were bit conscious and expressed concerns that while so many e-charging stations have been set up, only 10 per cent is being used.
He said, “I told them, we are at the stage of investing and not earning. So, we should not evaluate, going ahead when there will be growth in uptake of e-vehicles naturally we will see their usage grow. We have a target to increase the share of e-vehicles in the city.”
Sharing insights on post-covid challenges being faced by Delhi, Mr Sisodia said, “Covid has impacted our economy, people's lives and livelihoods. Even Delhi's per-capita income which we always have been proudly claiming to be highest countrywide, reduced from Rs 3.76 lac in 2019 to Rs 3.54 lac in the Covid year. So clearly there has been an impact, more so on the low-income group.”
He said that a survey had been conducted by the Delhi Government on post-covid scenario, especially to ascertain the situation of women workforce be it in terms of jobs or business opportunities. “In Delhi, there is a very low share of women in the workforce, so, in the survey it was found that women who are educated and willing to work is merely 12 per cent. In the pre-covid scenario i.e., exactly in February 2020, of these 12 per cent about 74 per cent women had a job. However, by the end of first eight months of Covid year, of these 12 per cent women, 40 per cent were rendered jobless.”
The Delhi Deputy CM added, “So, it can be gauged that Covid has snatched away people's livelihoods especially that of women and we need to work on these aspects. Thus, the Government is working on various initiatives like Anganwadi, Saheli Samanvay Kendra to empower women and promote their participation in local businesses and job opportunities.”
He also said that lack of visionary leadership in the previous Delhi regimes hampered the pace of city’s progress and development, be it issues related to pollution levels, transportation, business opportunities, women security and others.
“We are simultaneously working on various aspects be it economy, jobs, trade and industry. Had the previous regimes made the pollution norms more stringent in the past, we would not have been bearing all this, but we will have to consciously do this now and we seek with support of all stakeholders be it trade and industry, people in general, civil society etc.,” he said further.
Amid others who addressed the ASSOCHAM e-conclave included: ASSOCHAM President, Mr Vineet Agarwal; Chairman, Central Region Development Council, Dr Lalit Khaitan; Mr Jasmine Shah, Vice-Chairperson, Dialogue & Development Commission of Delhi, Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Ms Poonam Kaura, partner, Government & Public Sector Advisory, Nangia Andersen LLP.
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