All India Manufacturers’ Organisation (AIMO), the apex Organisation which monitors industrial progress, has released a survey on the rising unemployment in the TMSME sector (Traders, Micro Small, and Medium Enterprises).
The survey unveiled the critical condition of traders and MSMEs which have witnessed a huge slump in jobs and profits during the last 4.5 years.
AIMO released the survey after analyzing around 34,700 samples from traders and MSMEs across India which reflected that MSMEs have been through a crisis since 2014. The survey said that there is a dire need to pay heed to this sector’s revival.
Some Takeaways from the Survey are-
JOB LOSS
- Micro-segment suffered from 32% job loss.
- Small businesses segment witnessed 35% job loss.
- Medium businesses segment reported 24% job loss.
- Trader segment is distressed with 43% job loss.
- Labour falling under the unorganized sector faced the worst. The unorganized sector included stitching units, matches, plastic, crackers, dyeing units, stone units, tanneries, job work units, and printing companies.
DIP IN PROFITS
- Traders suffered from a 70% loss in operating profits.
- Micro industries show a 43% drop in operational profits.
- Small-scale industries have reported a dip of 35% in profits.
- Medium Scale industries were hit with a drop of 24%.
Impact of Demonetization and GST
K E Raghunathan, president of AIMO, said, that the year2015-2016 saw growth in all the sectors due to the high expectations from the Modi government. But he added, “It went down next year due to demonetization.”
He also blamed GST by saying, “The rollout of GST, due to finance availability and higher outstanding with government payments and compliance matters all worsened these sectors in the next three years.”
Failure of Schemes
The survey reported that some of the most popular schemes by the Modi government such as Digital India, Make in India, Skill India and Startup have failed to help traders and micro and small industries.
Though the medium scaled industries benefited from the Digital India initiatives.
The AIMO represents over 3 lakh MSMEs and it has highlighted that profitability, government documentation, sourcing funds, availing incentives are the major challenges faced by MSMEs.
Traders, on the other hand, have outlined that profitability, sales, and sourcing funds are the problems they face.