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Appreciating efforts to promote alternate Employment opportunities

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Kannadiga - 31 August, 2009 | Bangalore | governance | Tier2 | suggestion | Others | Everything else

This is letter to the Honorable Chief Minister of Karnataka.

First of all I would like to appreciate your honest effort to do such a quality work about building the image of Karnataka and helping the people of Karnataka to Prosper in all fields.Day by day My respect towards you grows by leaps and bounds.The only reason for that is your honesty and your commitment to keep your promises to the people.

I really wish the entire group of kannada politicians follow your footsteps and make a remarkable difference in the way the state is governed. You really make me feel proud of being a kanndiga.

I wanted to bring to your notice , the important aspect of making Karnataka attractive for investors and also increasing the employment opportunities in Karnataka.

I am one of the IT professionals working for a famous IT company in  B'lore.There are many of them who are in this industry who have a good standard of  living due to the offerings by the IT industry. In one way we are lucky that our own Bangalore has become the IT hub and the knowledge and skill capital of kannadigas is being used in state for its further growth.

But I feel, apart from Bangalore there are very few areas in Karnataka which are growing at the same pace as Bangalore or are offering same level of opportunities to people to lead a happy life.

I was really impressed by the news I read sometime back that you are planning give some importance to the other sectors than IT. I heard that you and your government are making a conscious effort to promote the textile industry in the state by setting up some new textile parks in various parts of the state like Shimoga, Davanagere. Its really worth many a appreciation. But I would request one thing, that please make sure the government pushes these initiatives faster enough with enough funds to make this successful.

The Textile industry is the next biggest employment generator after IT. It needs govt funds and subsidies to thrive in these tough financial situations. I would request you to provide 10-yr tax free zones for New textile companies that come forward to set up manufacturing units in Karnataka and you need to set some time limit for those units , within which they need to set up units, generate employment and become productive. This whole process need to be handled professionally. I would suggest you to come up with a separate Govt task force dept for handling the development of these textile parks who must be give the following tasks:
 

  1. Complete the Set up of the new identified textile parks within a year's time.
  2. Organize a Textile mela in Bangalore and invite all major Textile manufacturers in India to come and set up shop at the fair.
  3. Send memos to all the major Textile manufacturers in India giving details of the facilities provided by Karnataka,advantages of settung up units in Karnataka etc.
  4.  Also request companies to provide thier Blueprint of what they want to set up with what capacity and how much employment they are planning to generate in state and what will be the reveneue they are targetting.
  5. Also the Textile task force must ensure that the companies setting up units in Karnataka must abide by the rules of the state ( 60% employment opportunities must be reserved for people from Karnataka and remaining 40 % can be used for outsiders)
  6. Task force also must identify the Infrastucture short comings at the places where you are planning the Textile parks.They need to submit a report to the government about all this so that you can get the cabinet approval to make things move faster on all the fronts.

To set up this task force, you must set up a high profile recruitment drive where you identify 4 very well experienced people in all the following areas who will form the Textile development task force:

  1. 4 Senior level people who are having more than 12 years of experience in various Textile fields. These people will be able to give their input on the challenges faced during the erection of a textile unit and how can they be overcome and what help would be required from the Government. These people will do a survey of all the identifed textile parks and provide an expert opinion report to the government and also review the Blueprint provided by the textile manufacturers to see the feasibility of the plans submitted. ( All four people must be less than 40 yrs of age, all 4 must be kannadigas, 2 of them must have releveant experience in the Weaving section of Textile industry and 2 of them must have very good experince on Spinning)
  2. 4 Senior level personnel from the KIADB division to work on the nitty gritty of the land allotment, rates per sq ft calculation and other bureaucratic issues.They must be corruption free and young individuals driven by a vision.
  3. 4 Senior level MBA graduates from reputed institutions. They are required to sit on the panel which will discuss with the companies that are planning to set up units in Karnataka to make sure they understand the states rules and requirements. They will come up with the rules and regulation documents .Also they will be responsible for organizing the textile fair in bangalore on a yearly basis.

All the above people will be directly reporting to you on the progress of the projects and the development of the park.All the above mentioned people must be selected thru a very fair process, giving emphasis on Kannadigas.

If you can achieve this goal of generating employment in the state and making the state attractive for investment by providing very good infrastructure, we can really beat states like Gujurat and Maharasatra which boast about being the hub of manufacturing. Also we can show that kannadigas are not only known for their IT skills but we have very good skills in other fields like Textiles  too. Also this initiative can bring about a revolution among the people in the way they they think about the government and this will lay a foundation for a long innings for BJP in the state.
 
There are so many skilled kanndigas in textile fields who are going and struggling in other states to make a living and making profit for those states. So who dont we use them in our own state and retain that skill.
 
The key to achieve success in this initiative is by widespread marketing thru Print and television media by setting up a very good Marketing strategy.

I hope this Email of mine reaches you and will have an impact.
 
Your admirer &
a Humble Kannadiga,

COMMENTS

Business viability of promoting Tier-2 cities with new Business

Kannadiga - 1 September, 2009 - 15:01

First of all, I would thank you for going thru my message and giving your honest feed back on what you think.

You are absolutely justified in feeling that I am favoring one section of the population above another. But that is not the case. I am really liberal in my thoughts. As you rightly said, all I want is people with knowledge of the local logistics must be on the Panel on Field work for working on the feasibility of the options. Then even in recruitment, lets have some percentage earmarked for the local people and some percentage for others. This I think is fair.

Valid Business case for investing in a sector like Textiles:   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The demand for various textile by products like Apparels etc are not going to diminish for another 30 - 40 yrs. Since clothes are a necessity and not a luxury for all sections of the society, the Demand for the same will remain either constant or increase depending on the population scenario.

-The Textile industry not only generates jobs in its own sector, but will also promote its subsidiary sector like Farming(Cotton,Silk), Marketting(for its end products),Export Sector, Construction sector(During Plant erection), Mechanical industry (For manufacturing new machines and maintenance).

- From an business unit perspective, the way it is a feasible option to invest in Tier-2 Cities is because, the cost of labor is less, The amenities the unit provides to its employes come at a cheaper rate,the investment on land is less,Abundant local people reserve is available to work at various levels which will save the company some relocation and travel costs.Also there are a  couple of very good Textile education institutes in Karnataka which can feed these industries with good resources on an yearly basis.

-Unlike the IT industry which generates jobs in the high skilled sector. This sector generates jobs for the common people and the middle -skilled labours. Also this industry is somewhat recession proof, if the busuness unit diversifies its target cutomer base in a 60%(Abroad customers) and 40%(Domestic Customers).

-Coming to the issue of developing the Tier-2 Cities in the state, Government needs to look at it seriously. Because any such development project will generate employement in many sectors like construction, planning . Since we are staurated with the growth of Tier-1 cities in the state, it  makes sense to look at developing the next set and provide enough infrastrucure facilities for them to Bloom.

I dont have any bias towards the Textile sector. We must be happy if the government effort brings up any sector for that matter.Just that since Textiles is a Perennial industry ,it makes sense to hep it sustain and generate long term revenue and employment.

Signing off...

Guru...

 

Fine Analysis

Naveen - 1 September, 2009 - 15:16

This is a great argument in favor of promoting textile industries in tier-2 cities within the state. Actually, bangalore already is a powerhouse for garment industries & this can easily be extended to other cities such as mysore, mangalore, shimoga, hubli & bellary.

All it needs is a will, commitment & encouragement to facilitate development of such small-scale industries. Bangladesh has made textiles a big success story. Why cannot we do the same in karnataka ?

tier2 growth needs this type of thought

silkboard - 1 September, 2009 - 11:08

Welcome to Praja.

We have spoken about the focus needed on tier 2 cities, and some of us have made few points you have raised here, though in industry independent way. But I am not sure why you have picked out Textile as the area of business. Would be nice to show some stats to prove that their is a valid business case for investing specifically in textile industry as such.

I understand that you are suggesting Textiles because it is a big job generater (please provide stats to compare this wrt to IT, in terms of downstream jobs generated) and perhaps also because it generates "mid-skilled" jobs (unlike IT which requires high-skill hands). But by taking that line you have mixed up two objectives - encouraging a job-sector (Textiles), and Tier 2 promotion.

These two topics need separate treatments. If you make your Tier-2 spread-around/sops suggestion industry neutral, or suggest more industries that have big growth forecasts, perhaps that will have more people in agreement.

I like the way you have suggested "must be kannadigas" for one part of the committee that you are suggesting. On first read, I thought you are making an MNS like point. But I think I am wrong there. What you seem to be saying is that for doing field-level work (picking areas, locations, figuring out what help is required from local governments) kannadigas (those who know local language or area) would be better.

One question though - why have you opted to stay behind a screen name like kannadiga? Not that I am any better (silkboard is neither here nor there), but I do not hide my real name in most posts.

cheers,

SB aka Pranav

Tier2 thinking seems to be in the works

silkboard - 1 September, 2009 - 15:39

Should add Food processing or Agri-based industries to the list. The theme here is to push for creation of mid skilled jobs in hinterlands.

Guru - do you want to do more? How about organizing a meeting with the right people to understand GoK's Tier2 policies?

Did you notice the recent tenders for KEONICS creating tech parks at Mysore, Mangalore and Shimoga? Someone there is thinking tier2 (perhaps in Karnataka 2020 task force), but we have only seen IT parks so far.

  • That mega Roads PPP (announced few months ago) will help provide connectivity
  • Notice that airports too are in the works. Mysore (too bad nobody wants to fly in there yet), Hassan. Bellary etc.
  • Rail is the only problem, but don't really need them if Roads and airports can be put in place.
  • Education, creating local talent pool - I haven't checked on the location of new colleges that were "sanctioned", have not been tracking this space as such, nor have read any big announcements on this front except those new engineering colleges.

All in all, there are people thinking Tier2, if we find out who they are, and reach out to them, perhaps we can encourage them by providing ore visibility to their ideas.

Meeting the right people

Kannadiga - 1 September, 2009 - 17:13

Yes, I agree that we need to make an effort to meet the right people to understand the GOK's policies towards various developments. This wil give us an Idea as to what is in store and what we can expect from the GOK.

Also It will give an opportunity for common citizens like us to speak about the vision we have about the state's development.I am sure if our ideas reach the right people who are in charge of decision making, it can make a big difference not only to the citizens of the state but also help its administrators to fine tune their policies to achieve the long term growth.

I would be a part of such a meeting if you could help organize one. But due to geographical constraints (Since I am in US right now), I will not  be there in person. But if someone makes an arrangement to meet the right people and take all these suggestions and ideas to them, I would be really happy.

Hope such discussions do not just stay at the BLOG level, but materialise into some sort of action.

 

It takes time

silkboard - 1 September, 2009 - 17:17

So since you are not here, and its a new topic, we will have to wait to get some legs to work on this.

And there is absolutely no issue if this stays at the BLOG level for sometime. You win more volunteers for your cause by explaining and talking more about it. Unfair to just write one post and expect action.

Sure. Will wait and watch the

Kannadiga - 1 September, 2009 - 18:28

Sure. Will wait and watch the response

Karnataka Mandala

tsubba - 1 September, 2009 - 18:38

sharanri kannadiga... (i agree with P here please pick a more personal name like mine, tarle or subba)

years ago, P,3 and I had discussed this. see if this image makes any sense to your article.

there is a natural mandala in karnataka.

 

more thoughts

n - 1 September, 2009 - 21:06

You are all mind readers and this spooks me ;-) Been thinking/obsessing along the same lines for more than a week now. So, here are the ideas:

Like other states have diversified their industries, KA needs to do too. Example, TN has IT, Telecom (Nokia) and the support industries, and Auto (Hyundai) and the components units.

KA can develop the Hassan-Mangalore cluster as an electronics hub with say Samsung setting up a LCD unit there - the executives have good tourist spots nearby to unwind and it helps that the M'lore-B'lore train service has started (pity that Samsung wasn't listed on the electronic trade show starting in the next few days). Ditto with wooing companies from Taiwan.

Bellary-Hospet is turning into a iron-steel hub and recent SEZs cleared are moving the same direction.

Chitradurga is (hopefully) getting the DRDO facility and should end up getting some ancilllary suppliers.

If good roads and regular bus services are extended from Goa into Dandeli and then to Hubli-Dharwad, tourists tired of Goa can spill over into those places.

Similar concept with Gulbarga - IT companies from Hyd can spillover if good connectivity exists.

That leaves Shimoga, Bijapur and Bagalkot, Raichur areas - some of them can be developed as nanotech and/or MEMS hubs (with research centers) or, textiles centers as suggested above. Trying to emphasise on new areas with bigger future potential.

Planning to first approach the tourism director for developing Hubli-Dharwad and surrounding areas. If Tata nano decides to come, the region will get a boost. Of course, just need to gather thoughts (easy) and get out of lazy mode (hard) and write the letter/email.

Mysore - Bangalore Belt

Vasanth - 2 September, 2009 - 01:33

Whenever I come by train from Mysore, I see lots of workers coming from Channapatna, Ramnagaram and Bidadi to work in garment industries around Nayandahalli. All these garment industries are very low scale industries without even proper path for the workers to walk to work from Nayandahalli Station. They usually take the Mysore Passenger which leaves Mysore at 6:00 am.

Garment industries coming up in Channapatna and Ramanagarm will get them local employment opportunities with even more workers who are reluctant to work otherwise since they have to travel to take up work.

On the same lines, private sugar factories around Mandya - Pandavapura belt, since lots of Sugarcane is grown in this area. Pandavapura sugar factory is running under loss, probably I think due to improper management, but some big bosses like Tata / Reliance can take up this.

Srirangapatnam can get more into hospitality industry due to tourist attractions. People are now going to Mysore to get good hotels, but, Srirangapatnam can serve tourists at much cheaper price for the same quality.

Bidadi can be made another technological hub with townships around it and good connectivity to Bangalore via Bangalore-Mysore road and NICE road and frequent bus connectivity to Bidadi Railway Station.

Maddur has always taken the advantage of being in the middle of Bangalore and Mysore with restaurants and coffee shops. It needs to improve much more on that with restaurants of all classes coming up. Already we see Cafe Coffee Day (the pocket rocket), Mc Donalds, Pizza Corner, MTR Shivalli and Kamat Upachar after the four laning. 

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