Union minister for social justice and empowerment Virendra Kumar on Saturday lauded chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s positive initiatives that were attracting investment.
He also said the youngsters belonging to the scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs) should make use of the venture capital fund that the Union government has set up to provide low interest loans for setting up new ventures.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set up a venture capital fund to provide low interest loan and the SC and ST youths should come forward make use of the scheme,” Kumar said at a session on ‘Affirmative Action for Inclusive Growth’ on the second day of the UP Global Investors Summit-2023 at the Vrindavan Yojana in Lucknow.
He also said Uttar Pradesh had the largest rail network, roads and natural resources and investors had been invited to bring about development and provide jobs for the youngsters of the state. Kumar also said entrepreneurs were keen to invest in the state as chief minister Yogi Adityanath enjoyed more confidence of the people during his second term. He said there was a demand for skill development of the youth.
Uttar Pradesh minister of state (independent charge) for social welfare Asim Arun said Union minister Kumar was making all efforts to take all sections of the society along.
{{/usCountry}}Uttar Pradesh minister of state (independent charge) for social welfare Asim Arun said Union minister Kumar was making all efforts to take all sections of the society along.
{{/usCountry}}“This is a double engine government and the union minister is working like a guard to ensure that no one is left behind,” Arun said in a lighter vein.
Minister for minority welfare Dharam Pal urged entrepreneurs to invest for inclusive growth. Vivek Dalela, associate professor, Grand Valley State University, said there was a need to spend more CSR (corporate social responsibility) funds for development. He presented a picture of garbage lying close to a leading company’s office to make his point that big corporates should be more involved in fulfilling their responsibility towards the society.
He said companies in India should get themselves B-Corp certified as was being done in the USA to ensure they maintain high standards of performance and quality. (B Corp or B Corporation is a private certification of companies for their “social and environmental performance)”. He also said B-Corp had turned out to be a movement in the USA.
Akash Goenka, vice-chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), UP State Council, said the ministry of MSME had given permission for training of 50 entrepreneurs from the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe community at the five IIMs. Tata Business Excellence Group general manager Shreyas Desai said his company had worked out an affirmative action plan for inclusive growth in 2010.
He said besides the deprived sections, the SC/STs, women and the specially abled were made part of the affirmative action group.
Nidhi Pundir, vice president, Global CSR, HCL Tech, spoke about the work being done by HCL to fulfil social responsibility.