The Jharkhand unit of the Tribal Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry will meet chief minister Hemant Soren with a demand for reservation for tribal entrepreneurs in the new procurement plan under the 2021 industrial policy of the state government.

A decision to meet the chief minister was taken on Saturday on the sidelines of a two-day vendor development programme organised by the chamber in association with Jharkhand Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation and National Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe Hub of the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises at the Tribal Culture Centre in Sonari, Jamshedpur.

“We have already intimated to state industry director Jitendra Kumar Singh (who was the chief guest at the inaugural programme on Friday) about the need for a separate reservation for tribal entrepreneurs in the procurement plan as part of the new industrial policy being framed by the government. He (Singh) has assured of positive action.

“We will also be meeting the chief minister and requesting at least 30 per cent reservation for tribal entrepreneurs and 10 per cent for tribal women entrepreneurs in the new procurement policy of the Jharkhand government,” said Baidyanath Mardi, the chamber’s Jharkhand unit president.

The chamber officials felt that the formulation and implementation of a new procurement policy with reservation for tribal entrepreneurs will safeguard the micro and small enterprises in respect of purchases by government departments and state-owned PSUs, including boards, corporations, development authorities, improvement trusts, municipalities, notified area committees, cooperative bodies and institutions aided by the Jharkhand government and companies where the state government’s share is 50 per cent or more.

Mardi said at present more than 60 tribal entrepreneurs exist in Jharkhand.

“More tribals will get interested in the MSME sector if there is reservation for them in the procurement policy,” he said.

He also appealed to the corporate sector, including the Tata Group, to help in providing proper training to tribal entrepreneurs and also provide hand-holding sessions in providing market linkage for their products.

“We will also appeal to the chief minister for a separate board to provide loans to tribal entrepreneurs,” added Mardi.

The two-day vendor development programme which concluded on Saturday was attended by senior officials of Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Cummins, Tata Power, Indian Steel and Wire Products, Tata BlueScope and Nuvoco Vistas, among others.