A National High Power Committee meeting Chaired by Shri Kalraj Mishra, Union Minister for MSME was held at New Delhi on September 22, 2016, to review the progress of the National SC/ST Hub which is being established to promote SC/ST Entrepreneurs. Speaking on the occasion Shri Mishra said that the National SC/ST Hub will be launched soon within a record time of 7 months from the announcement in the budget speech of 2016-17. <br/> <br/> Hon’ble Minister said that Government led by Sh. Narendra Modi was keen to inculcate the spirit of self-employment among the SC/ ST population and he urged upon all the participants, especially industries associations to take it in the mission mode. <br/> He informed that his Ministry has made an initial allotment of allocation of Rs. 490 crore for the period 2016-2020 for the National SC/ST Hub. The Hub would primarily aid in strengthening market access/linkage, monitoring, capacity building, leveraging financial support schemes and sharing industry best practices etc. The hub would operate from National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Headquarters in Delhi, supported by a special cell created for this purpose. <br/> <br/> Hon’ble Minister of State, MSME, Shri Giriraj Singh emphasised the need to work at the grass root level and start work on a pilot basis with identified CPSEs in the districts having large presence of SC/ST entrepreneurs. Hon’ble Minister of State, MSME, Sh Haribhai P. Choudhary mentioned about working for the demand side from CPSEs and large corporate houses. <br/> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/NSICLTD/photos/pcb.1188508991187112/1188508211187190/?type=3&theater"><font color="#FF6600">Click here to view more images.</font></a> <br/> <img ALIGN=right src=/images/61annyear.jpg height=80 WIDTH=90/>