Koraput: Staff shortage in the District Industries Centre (DIC), Koraput, is affecting the implementation of govt schemes and outreach activities meant to boost entrepreneurship among unemployed youth. Official data revealed that 10 out of 14 sanctioned posts of assistant industries officers (AIOs) are vacant, severely limiting operations. Ideally, every block is supposed to have at least one AIO to raise awareness about various govt schemes aimed at promoting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). However, only four posts are filled currently, with one officer managing multiple blocks simultaneously. Most of their time is spent at the district office occupied with official work. The shortage has hampered field-level engagement and awareness drives. The impact of the administrative vacuum shows as only two persons applied for capital subsidies under MSME schemes this year — an alarmingly low number that experts attributed to poor information dissemination and lack of guidance from field officials. “This is in stark contrast to the govt’s emphasis on promoting self-employment and MSMEs among youth in tribal and rural belts like Koraput. AIOs are key personnel in promoting and implementing the govt schemes. But with most of the posts lying vacant, the efforts are falling short,” said Ajit Pata, a Koraput-based activist. Two posts of assistant managers are also lying vacant in the DIC, creating bottlenecks in the implementation and monitoring of schemes. “There is certainly a shortage of staff, and it has affected scheme implementation to some extent,” said general manager of DIC (Koraput), Chinmayee Parida. “However, we are doing our best with the limited resources. We are hopeful that additional staff will be recruited by Oct,” he added. “Unless the vacancies are urgently filled, many potential entrepreneurs may continue to miss out on vital govt support. The gap between policy intent and ground-level execution has to be resolved soon to strengthen the DIC’s field presence,” said Bhabani Mishra, another activist.
