SOS Conclave - Odisha: Government will have to empower skilled youth, says Prakash Sarangi, VC Ravenshaw University

Odisha has to concentrate on creating atmosphere for entrepreneurship if the development so far achieved has to be taken forward.

"In Odisha, till now the state itself has been the engine of growth with negligible local entrepreneurship, whereas in Gujarat entrepreneurship is in the blood of the Gujaratis," said Prakash Sarangi, vice chancellor, Ravenshaw University, while taking part in a discussion on Innovation to Transformation: Mining and Informal Sector at the State of the State Conclave.

Sarangi said the skilled youth migrating to other states in search of better opportunities instead starting their own enterprise. The government would have to empower these skilled youth in term of capital and other incentives to create an atmosphere conducive to entrepreneurship, he added.

BJP vice president and former state Industries Minister Debi Prasad Mishra said that the government has a special focus to generate employment by creating a network of MSMEs. Over 12 lakh jobs have been created by the MSMEs set up in the state, he said.

Kishore Samal, director, Development Research Institute, Bhubaneswar, lamented that the state is run by bureaucrats, which is a "stumbling block to development". "The political leaders need to be powerful than bureaucrats, the process of development will be much better," he said.