MSMEs are ready to achieve sustainability through emotion and innovation, not through rules or theories. Very often we see in a family, a child is the favourite. Similarly, when it comes to businesses in India, the MSME is the most handsome child of both the central and state governments.
I say this because whatever policy is introduced or enacted by either, be it related to taxation or environmental protection, the headstrong and frowning giants often turn a blind eye to compliances and sometimes run the entire business on government or bank money. That's why at the very outset I wish to convey strongly that whatever goal is given for sustainability by governments or any agency concerned, the MSME will fulfil it.
This is because the question of survival is always a very big question for MSMEs. And therefore, be it GST or directives of the Pollution Control Board, the government authorities have been able to get the best outcome from MSMEs. But now the question is of achieving sustainable goals — by law or emotions or innovation? Are MSMEs geared for it?
The answer is yes. MSMEs have the will power to achieve sustainability by emotion and by innovation. An MSME strongly believes that energy conservation should be done. MSMEs strongly believe that there must be a switch to renewable energy. And for that, the efforts that have to be made at their own level are also being made. That MSME also strongly believes that there should be no pollution of water, land or air. But the big question is that if MSMEs make efforts in that direction, is there any effort to appreciate them or to give proper market value to their products or their work?
The answer to this question is both yes and no. Yes, in a way that if an MSME has taken some good step towards sustainability then its work needs to be honoured at the state or national level. An MSME is the child of our industry which needs not only respect but also some support. It is not easy for an MSME to switch to renewable energy or move towards sustainability. The process is both difficult and expensive. Today owning a windmill may be peanuts for a group of big giants, but for an MSME it is like taming a wild ferocious elephant.
It is not only difficult to install a windmill, it is also not easy to maintain it. To top it, the MSME is harassed by the agencies concerned from time to time in the name of regulations. This additional burden apart from the toil to keep the business running forces the entrepreneur to think that the decision to switch was perhaps a big mistake. And if the switch has not been made, seeing a fellow entrepreneur face some hassle or the other, consider that it is better to continue as is!
In short, the MSME is a sector which needs a soft approach with maximum sensitivity. The entrepreneur is so entangled with the rigours of business, pollution control, fire safety, labour laws, coal rates, transportation and market fluctuations, that sustainability is a luxury thought and practice. And while accepting that luxury, if it does not get proper policy, soft approach, subsidy or any other form of encouragement or proper market value for its products, what is the incentive for it to pivot towards sustainability? Is sustainability its sole monopoly? What is the key motivation that the MSME receives for that extra effort for sustainability?
