In a bid to develop conducive atmosphere for digitalisation in non-corporate sector, prominent stakeholders of economy have come forward to form the ‘Alliance for Digital Bharat”. The Alliance includes national organisations of traders, transporters, consumers, farmers, hawkers, SMEs, self-employed groups etc.
Proposed GST which is designed to be based on a digital platform coupled with various moves of the Government to encourage cashless economy has necessitated the formation of an alliance which will become a common market in line with keeping at par, the goods & services in proposed GST.
The Alliance has launched a nationwide advocacy campaign to extend support to encourage digitalisation among different verticals of non-corporate sector.
The Alliance’s objectives include raising awareness levels among its constituents about other such newer technologies for the benefit of small business owners.
The awareness would be raised about online marketplaces, e-commerce, digital payments, mobile wallets; cloud based accounting software and comprehensive use of social media for the purpose of aggressive marketing of smaller businesses.
Promotion of adoption of less cash payment system coupled with demanding simplified tax regime and favourable support policies including incentivising benefits for deeper percolation among the masses are being seen as measures to boost this sector which has long remain neglected when compared with rapid strides the organised sector has made over the last few years.
This move not only supports the Government’s intention to leverage its financial inclusion scheme, it also allows smaller business owners to realise impending benefits of these new age technologies.
Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and Convenor of the Alliance said that “unfortunately in absence of any specified Rules & Regulations, the e-commerce market in India has become an open play ground and e commerce companies are engaged in several activities that are detrimental to small businesses and digital payment is one of the core payment system largely used in e commerce.”
B C. Bhartia, National President of CAIT said that “complexity in understanding impending benefits, hesitation in maintaining websites along with necessary/added features such as payment gateways, and resistance to trust technologies such as cloud computing, are often cited as reasons not to avail these technologies.”
The Alliance has decided to empower and equip the non-corporate sector about importance and acceptance of emerging and newer technologies which is expected to drive future course of small & medium sized businesses in India.
The Alliance intends to roll out its strategy in coming few weeks and will be holding multiple consultations both within and with external members of the industry in this regard. It expects to draw support from the private sector as well for this presents the unique opportunity for like-minded organisations to come together, on one single platform, and work for uplifting the small businesses.
Source: MENAFN.com
