A slew of issues, ranging from lack of funds to red-tapism, were raised by a group of young entrepreneurs who interacted with Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in Kochi on Monday.
Tharoor, the Thiruvananthapuram MP, was in Kochi to interact with people of various walks of life as part of collecting inputs for the United Democratic Front's (UDF) manifesto for the upcoming Kerala assembly elections.
Over 100 startup owners representing sectors such as deep-tech, logistis, education and healthcare attended the interaction and shared their concerns. Several of them raised the age-old issues related to red-tapism and militant trade unionism while lack of funds and the need to set up a mechanism that can aggregate ways of funding were the other major topics of discussion.
Hibi Eden MP, AIPC state general secretary Sudheer Mohan and AICC secretary Sreenivasan Krishnan attended the meet among others.
The participants spoke from their hands-on experiences to which Tharoor responded with clarity. “Simplifying regulations will be of absolute priority if the UDF comes to power,” he said in reply to a participant who flagged the issues relating to the strict building rules in the state.
To those who flagged the lack of initial capital as a major hindrance to their aspirations, Tharoor said the state government should work to leverage more funds from the central government's schemes for startups.
A participant who runs a cyber security company suggested that the state government invest in a few startups every year instead of providing grants. Tharoor, however, was not in favour of the idea. Being absolutely realistic, he said the funds are unlikely to land the deserving beneficiaries provided the political culture in the country. “Finding ways to raise money is more important than direct government funding,” he said.
Another participant urged Tharoor to look into the government regulations that do not allow smaller firms to take up government projects. He mentioned a recent tender issued by the Kerala Bank to buttress his point.
The programme was proof for the notable presence of woman entrepreneurs in the state's startup eco system. A number of women who own startups in education, art, logistics, finance and ayurveda sectors raised their concerns.
Tharoor mentioned the demand raised by the students of St Teresa's College, Ernakulam for opportunity for women in entrepreneurship. Earlier in the day, he had an interaction with the students of the college.
In the evening, he met people representing various fields at a function at Rajendra Maidan. Tharoor is part of a 10-member election management and strategy panel constituted by the Congress central leadership.
