Jayesh Ranjan: Social Inclusion

The youngest state—Telangana, is well on its way to becoming a hub for Dalit entrepreneurship—first of its kind that will attract Dalit entrepreneurs from all across the country. While others are still talking of reservations, Telangana has moved a notch ahead with Dalit Empowerment through Entrepreneurship. What is available is an investment subsidy of upto Rs 75 lakh; upto Rs 5 crore margin money to enable a Dalit entrepreneur to secure a bank loan without collateral—first of its kind in the country. What’s more—22 per cent of all the industrial land will be reserved for the SC and ST entrepreneurs, in addition to an incubation centre for Dalit entrepreneurs to be set up in Hyderabad. Telangana’s effort is an epoch-making stride to move away from the clichéd ‘Single Window’ approach to clearing of licenses and permissions.