Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur Sep. 28: The Nagaland chapter of the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry was inaugurated by the minister for Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Jacob Zhimomi on Saturday in Dimapur.
Dicci is the apex body of SC/ST entrepreneurs in the country, with 29 states as members. Nagaland’s unit is the 29th chapter to be inaugurated in the country.
Addressing at the event, Zhimomi requested the group’s chairman to appeal to his colleagues in Delhi and to the department of Economic Affairs to have an extra budget for STs as they are lagging behind.
Although Nagaland has the zeal, intellect and are a people who are ‘hardworking,’ Zhimomi said because of ‘socio-political issues and circumstances’ the state has to be given special attention. The legislator has appealed to the central government and the department of Economic Affairs to give special consideration to the Northeast region, especially Nagaland.
‘Why should we not get the schemes which are entitled to us?’ he wondered.
Taking opportunity of the presence of Dicci representatives of India, Zhimomi appealed to the organisation to set up small-scale industries in the state to open doors for the youths because the government is the ‘only employer’ in the state. He assured 100% support and cooperation from the government, the community, organisations and churches.
“We do not have the capital although we have the resources and for which we need to work on,” the legislator asserted. The required cooperation will be extended to the Dicci, he said in assurance.
Zhimomi acknowledged that the Nagas lost momentum in business and pointed out that ‘we start big but lose the momentum because of the ambitions to earn overnight.’
‘Our culture has no business history,’ he said. He urged the youths and aspiring entrepreneurs to maintain business discipline and to be patient for the reason that success takes time.
The Dicci’s founder-chairman Milind Kamble, a Padma Shree awardee in 2013, said the organisation’s objective is to encourage businesses among the SC/ST as there are no business leaders among them.
“We will create a pool of opportunities for the youth; find out schemes that the government provides direct subsidy for the youths and we will guide you,” he assured.
Ravi Kumar Narra, the Dicci’s working president, and a Padma Shree awardee in 2014, addressed the programme too. He maintained that the Dicci was a non-political organisation although it works closely with the government but without any political affiliation. He said its main aim was to promote a support system for the people.
Dicci Nagaland coordinator Kathi Chishi said Dicci will be creating 200 entrepreneurs from Nagaland in the next two years as part of the ‘Startup India’ programme.
