Opportunities and Challenges for Rural Entrepreneurship in India

IONAL NAL J OURNAL OF MULTIDISC IDISCIPLINARY IPLINARY EDUCATIONAL RESEARC EARCH H INTERNATIO ACT TOR - 2.972 ISSN:: 2277-7881; IMPACTFAC ISSN 2.972;; IC VALUE:5.16 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 5(1) 5(1),, MAY 2015

OPPORTUNITI E S AND CHALL ENGES FOR RURAL OPPORTUNITI RURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP ENTRE PRENEURSHIP IN INDIA M.Selladurai

J .Priy Pri yadhars harshini hini

Assista ssista nt P rofesso rofessorr Department of Commerce AVS College of Arts, Salem

Assista ssista nt P rofesso rofessorr Department of Commerce AVS College of Arts, Salem

Introduction Rural entrepreneurship has an imperative role to play in the development of Indian economy. Taking into account the fact that nearly 70 percent of the Indian population calls rural India it's home, adequate funding and support can provide a prosperous entrepreneur at mosphere mosphere in in t hese commun commun ities. ities. So far a s it it is known th at rura l India as compared to the majority population is economically poor, younger, more secluded geographically, secluded from the main markets, racially imbedded in tradition, less dynamic economically and experiencing depopulation. It is to be noticed that most of the entrepreneur devel develop opment ment poli polici cies es are ad apt ed to meet meet th e needs needs of t he urba n In dia. Such policies will have to be changed by establishing such centers which exclusively deal with the rural communities and provide consulting and research facilities. These centers can then provide a network between the secluded rural India and bridge the gap between these urban and rural communities. Most of the businesses in rural India are family owned thus providing a firm entrepreneurial base which can be exploited by the establishment of the rural entrepreneur centers. These are the social entrepreneurs working in non-profit enterprises such as social justice organization, micro enterprises and business associat associat ion. The most over looked aspect of the rural India, that can be exploited,

is

the

process

of

depopulation.

Many

of

the

young

enthusiastic people turn towards the cities in order to fulfill their desire www.ijmer.in

74


to become successful. Since, the rural India cannot provide the growth oppo opport rt unit y for t hese young ent rep repreneur reneur t o succe succeed, ed, most most of t hem end up in finding ordinary and management jobs. Keeping in mind the resources that a responsible world country has and the kind of rural resources resources th at count count rie riess like India boost, if th e gove govern rn ment can provide provide an incentive for these young people to stay in their communities and help them in setting up entrepreneur projects from their own family owned businesses, such a program can bring about an unmatched success success in rur a l commun commun ities.

Meaning Rural entrepreneurs are those who carry out entrepreneurial activities by establishing industrial and business units in the rural sector of the economy. In other words, establishing industrial and business units in the rural areas refers to rural entrepreneurship. In simple

words,

rural

entrepreneurship

implies

entrepreneurship

emerging in rural areas. Or, say, rural entrepreneurship implies rural industrialisation.

Thus,

we

can

say,

entrepreneurship

precedes

industrialization.

Definition Rural entrepreneurship is defined in broader sense "as the enthusiastic willingness of a villager to organize his or her economics activity, whatever it may be (a business, a job, an investment etc) with the help of appropriate technology and practices conceived for a susta inab le livi living." ng."

Rural Entrep E ntrepr r eneurs neurship hip in i n India I ndia Who sh ould be capable of ma king u se of of t he govern govern ment polic policie iess and schemes for the betterment of rural people? Some individuals who happen to be local leaders and NGOs and who are committed to the cause of the rural people have been catalytic agents for development.

www.ijmer.in

75


Though their efforts need to be recognized yet much more needs to be done to reverse the direction of movement of people, i.e. to attract people in the rural areas. It means not only stopping the outflow of rural people but also attracting them back from the towns and cities where they had migrated. This is possible when young people consider rural areas as places of opportunities. Despite all the inadequacies in rural areas one should assess their strengths and build on them to make rural areas places of opportunities. This is much to do with the way one see the reality of the rural areas. The way a survivor or job seeker would see things would certainly be different from those who would like to do something worthwhile and are ready to go through a difficult path to achieve their goals. It isn't that there is a dearth of people with such a mindset. Enabling them to think positively, creatively

and

Entrepreneurship

purposefully

is

most

of

the

development of rural areas. The basic principles of entrepreneur which applied applied t he rur a l develop development ment ar e:

Optimum utilizat ion ion of local local

resources in an entrepreneurial venture by rural population - Better distributions of the farm produce results in the rural prosperity. E nt repreneurial repreneurial occupat occupat ion ion rura l pop populat ulat ion ion is to r educe educe discri discrimina mina t ion ion and providing alternative occupations as against the rural migration. To activate such system to provide basic '6 m'- manpower, money , material, machinery, management and market to the rural population.

Opportunities of Rural Entrepreneurship Support &Motivation to local people: Rural entrepreneurs have a lot of support from the rural people. Rural village people always encourage

and

establishment

give cost

the

motivation

to

the

entrepreneurs.

when

compared

to

the

urban

areas,

Low rur al

entrepreneurs' business establishment cost is very low. There is no need need t o construct construct or facilitie facilitiess huge infra str ucture an d buildings. buildings.

www.ijmer.in

76


Competitive advantages / Availability of labour : In India sev seveenty percent of the people are living in the village. Majority of the rural people are depending on the agriculture. The agriculture work is not ava ilab ilab le

t hroughout

t he year.

Tha Tha t

is

the

reason

w hy

r ura l

entrepreneurs have the competitive advantage in easily acquiring un skilled skilled a nd semiskille semiskilled d labor.

Government policies and subsidies: The government of India is cont cont inuously

monit oring

a nd

int roducing

t he

new polici policies es for

encouraging the rural entrepreneurship. These policies are very flexible, innovative, liberalized and giving continues support to rural entrepreneurs. At the same time government has also announced hu ge subsidies subsidies for promotin g t he rur al ent repreneurship.

Availability of Raw-material: Most

of

the

times

the

rural

entrepreneurs are depending upon the farm based products as raw materials, which are available through-out the year. These raw materials are available in the rural area that is the reason there is no tr an sport sport at ion ion cost cost an d flota flota tion cos cost. t.

Optimum utilisation of produces: Optimum utilisation of farm produces is only possible through the rural entrepreneurship only. Most Most of t he rura l ent ent rep repreneurs reneurs depe depend nd u pon pon t he farm produce producess as ra w materials.

Employment generation for rural youth: Rural entrepreneurs are providing

hundred

percent

jobs

for

rural

youth.

If

the

rural

entrepreneurs are succeeding in this activity the migration of the people to urban from rural will be immediately stopped to a maximum extent.

Promotion

cost:

There

is

no

promotion

cost

for

rural

entr ep epreneurs reneurs in fa ct t he compe compett ition ition is very very less. less. Pa rt icularly icularly t here is is no need for advertising and other promotional activities for their products. www.ijmer.in

77


Challengers of Rural Entrepreneurship In order to alleviate the problems of rural entrepreneurship, under the government supported resources for these projects and select only the very best ideas that directly benefit not only the community but also ca ca n compete compete on a global scale.

Distribution and logistics: Infrastructure contains to be a challenge in rural India. Moreover, the lack of an efficient distribution network prevent prevent s penet penet ra t ion of product product s/services services int int o rura l In dia.

Payment collection: The majority of the rural population is still unbanked. Clearly, non-cash collection becomes rather unlikely. Cash coll collec ection; tion; on t he other h an d, ar e messy messy a nd difficul difficultt t o monitor.

Pricing: it is easier to collect in larger amounts as every instance of collection and carrying of cash has associated cost. Disposable income, through, isn't always high since the bulk of rural India is agriculture an d income income cycl cyclee in in a gricultura gricultura l are very errat ic an d not as predicta predicta ble as in t he case of us sa sa lar ied ied individuals.

Scaling across Geographies: India is is a land with many cultures cultures and traditions, the difference become much problem in rural India. Setting up operat operat ion on pan -In dia present present s different t ypes of of hur dles in in different states ranging from political juggling to downright local factors. Add to that the greater differences in consumer tastes and behavior across geographies then in the relatively more cosmopolitan urba n popul populat at ion. ion.

Social and cultural challenges: The cyber café model has not worked in many parts of rural India due to socio-cultural issues. One of t he rea sons for t he failur e of of t he kiosk kiosk model in in (HP 's i-co i-commu mmu nit y) was the lack of usage by women which was largely due to their discomfort discomfort in going t o kiosks kiosks run by m en.

www.ijmer.in

78


Growth of Mall culture: Because of the globalization and modern economy encouraging the mall culture rather than the traditional shops. Anot Anot her side rur al In dian peopl peoplee income income is a lso increased, becau becau se of of t ha t th ese ese peop people le also also at tr act ed to mall cultur cultur e.

Lack of technical knows How: Rural Indian people they don't have strong technical educational knowledge. That is the reasons these people don't know how to use latest technology. Still majority of the rura l ent ent repreneur’s repreneur’s ar e tra ditional an d old old technolo technology. gy.

Poor self- image of rural youth & inadequate motivation: Strong motivation is the Mahamantra for success of any activity. P ar t icularly icularly t he rura l yout yout h ar e suffering suffering with poor poor selfself-image. image. This This is is killi killing ng t he ta lent lent s of of th e rural youth.

Cultural values: We We can observe one t hin g here; in in compa compa ring t o t he urban people the rural people have been committed to strong cultural values. values. In th is globali globalizes zes world th e most most t ra ditiona ditiona l peop people le are also fat ly adopting the foreign cultures and traditions. In fact the rural people don't don't easy t o cha cha nge t he cultu cultu ra l values. values.

Role

of

government

in

Development

of

Rural

Entrepreneurship: The different between rural and entrepreneur is only a matter of degree rather than the content. Many successful entrepreneurs are prospe prospering ring in t he cities cities w ho are ha iling iling from rura l areas. I t is esse essent nt ial to h ave a ba lanced regio regiona na l deve develo lop pment of the count count ry and to a void void th e concentration of industry in one place. Rural areas must try for better utilization of human resources to improve the rural economy. Government

has

moral

responsibility

in

designing,

promoting,

innovating rural entrepreneurial development programme for the uplift ment of the rural economy on which the urban economy is build upon. Government should encourage the rural population and try to a bridge the gap between the extended and remote communities. But www.ijmer.in

79


here, the government is not playing the role sincerely. Always, all the times gove government rnment has only only conce concent rat e on t he urban industr industr ializat ializat ion and

urban

economy

development.

This

is

the

right

time

the

governments are changing their policy, and come forward with the more ben eficial eficial polic policies ies,, schemes an d sub sidies sidies for d evelop evelopment ment of ru ra l entrepreneurship as well as economy

Conclusion Although agriculture today still provides income to rural communities, rural development is increasingly liked to enterprise development. Since national economies are more and more globalize an d competition competition is int int ensifying ensifying a t an unprecede unprecedent nt ed pace, pace, affect affect ing not only industry but any economic activity including agriculture, it is not surprising surprising t ha t r ura l ent ent rep repreneurship reneurship is is gaining in its its import import an ce as a force of economic change that must take place if many rural communities are to survive. However, entrepreneurship demands an enabling environment in order to flourish. It is quite clear that rural entrepreneurship cannot be developed without significant training. Therefore, instead of schemes are the correct for entrepreneurship devel develop opment ment an int ensive ensive tra ining needs to be provi provided ded to t he youth in rura l India . Wha Wha t 's required is is to creat creat e a devoted devoted team t o t ake up rural entrepreneurship

training

as

per

integrated

rural

development

program. To manage agricultural sector and non- enclave projects in rural areas; rural entrepreneurs need to apply entirely different management and administrative concepts. Rural entrepreneurship is the answer to removal of rural poverty in India. Therefore, there should be more stress on integrated rural development.

www.ijmer.in

80


References 1. P ower, Thomas Thomas Michael Lost La ndscapes ndscapes a nd Failed Failed E conomie conomies: s: The Sea rch for a Value of P lace, Islan d P ress, 199 1996, 6, 38. 38. 2. Regional Technology Strategies, Inc Evaluation of the ARC’s E nt rep repreneurship reneurship Init iat ive, ive, Februa ry 20 200 01, 1. 1. 3. Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Opportunities for Rura l P olic olicyy Reform: Lessons Lessons Learned from R ecent ecent Fa rm B ills, ills, 1995, 2. 4. w w w . Social Social En t rep repreneurship reneurship.c .com om 5. w w w . G loba loba l Develo Development pment .com .com 6. www.Hindu.com 7. www.Economitimes.com

www.ijmer.in

81

Opportunities and Challenges for Rural Entrepreneurship in India

Recommend Documents