 small and medium enterprises or MSMEs are one of the industrial sectors affected heavily by the lockdown due to COVID-19. The sector was in crisis already due to demonetization and improper implementation of GSD. The slowdown in the automobile sector again depended the crisis in this sector. Thousands of MSME units are reeling under the pressure of unclear payment due from corporates, state governments and government undertakings during the last one year. On May 23, the Finance Ministry under the central government launched a scheme named Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme ECLGS offered a support of Rs 3 lakh crore in credit for the MSMEs. The scheme is open until October 31 or until Rs 3 lakh crore has been sanctioned, whichever is earlier. According to experts representing a group of industry bodies, the scheme needs several modifications to address the real problems of the enterprises due to COVID-19 pandemic and continued lockdowns. Newsly has already revealed the distress situation in the Ambatur industrial area in Chennai which is one of the largest small-scale industry wealth in Tamil Nadu. To understand more about the problems in the MSMEs, NewsClickscope 2, KE Raghunathan, Convener of Consortium of Indian Associations, CIE, which is a group of around 30 trade associations. See the last three to four years, the government of India has been wanting to effect and impact several changes for good. Intentions are good, but the methodologies have been letting us down. Take for example, the demonetization. Intention when it was announced was seemingly noble, but the pains what all of us went through without an alternative mechanism was very difficult for us to digest. GST was in the same way. Nobody would question the intention of bringing in GST, but the methodology in which the GST was brought, even today, even after three years, there is a technology related issues. There is no simplified documentation of filing and you need a third-party expert to help you file a monthly return for a small entrepreneur. For a micro-industries, these are all not possible. Now then there was an economy recession in the last 18 months. Take for example, real estate. We had a big flop. Then automobile sector, continuously the auto sectors have been falling. So 80% of the industries in Ambatur who were dependent on automobile sector have either shrunk their production base from 100% manufacturing capacity to 30% manufacturing capacity or they have diversified into another business models or business products or they have wound up their operations. So there was no choice for them and especially when the foreign companies like Kundai and Ford came into India or into Chennai, they came with their own ancillary units also. Instead of using the existing ancillary units in India towards their needs, they brought specialized ancillary units from Korea itself. That has also impacted the local industries flourishing. In these 125 days, there is only once finance minister has come and announced a financial package. Out of that package, there is only one scheme which has been so far active in the field. That is 3 lakhs credit guarantee loan scheme. Even after nearing 65 days of its announcement, we are yet to have 35% of dispersal of the scheme. The scheme, even yesterday, the Honorable Finance Minister has relaxed the scheme to include more borrowers. Why does the relaxation come? Because the first scheme which was conceived were no-takers. Why were they no-takers? People like us, micro and small industries, we don't know how the future is going to be. If we keep taking loans, how will we repay? Those who are doing well, they don't need additional loan. Those who are not doing well, they are not sure how they will replace the loan. Although the loan is called as a credit guarantee loan, 90% of the bankers or financial institution are insisting on charging the existing mortgages as a security. There is no implementation. Honorable Finance Minister said even day before yesterday, if there is any bank which is not giving you a loan, please contact me directly, I will monitor it. Is it possible for a common man to contact Finance Minister? You please go through the website of the Finance Minister yourself. You will not be able to find the email ID of our Honorable Finance Minister. Let us understand, when there is no income, then expenses must be reduced. All of us know, industries have no income. For the last four months, we are living without any income. Then we have to reduce the expenses. What is the expenses we are getting? Take for example, my factory is closed but I am asked to pay minimum electricity charges. It is not a small money, it is a big money and we have been requesting the Government of Tamil Nadu to waive these minimum charges levy. There is no answers. Second, even if we take the loan, they are asking us to do MODT, mortgaging of documents for which we are paying money to the State Government for the registration. We are asking for waiver. Then there is a property tax, then there is a water tax, then there is so many taxes which are coming in our way. How can we pay all this? We are asking all of this to be also waived. We have been requesting Finance Minister as well as our Honourable Prime Minister that we are worried about demand. We need to have orders till March, whatever the money which you are expecting from us to be paid, whether it is PF, whether it is ESI, whether it is GST, whether it is TDS, whether it is income tax, please give us relief from every one of them till March. Second, whatever the money you owe us to be paid for which we have supplied the materials, corporate entities are not able to pay us the money in time, please insist devise a mechanism whereby which we will get our money back immediately. Nearly about 5 lakh crore is outstanding for MSCs. We need that back. Third, whatever the money which you have allocated for expenditure by the Central Government, Ministries, Undertakings and State Government Undertaking, please spend immediately, don't wait till March 2021. We need businesses to go on. You have to restart the economy. You have stopped us from functioning suddenly for a good reason. You please start us with a push. Unless the push is given by you, the vehicle will not move. We are dying every day. It is becoming difficult for us to keep the nose above the water. Unemployment is increasing. Closure of companies are increasing. We are losing confidence. Start-up enterprises are suffering. 80% of start-up companies are wound up their operation. Merely giving loan alone is not the right solution. Please give us exemption from the interest to be paid on the moratoriums. We will not be able to bear it. Please extend the moratorium or reschedule all the loans which are pending with financial institution by till March 2021. In the last 18 months, most of the announcements from the Finance Ministry has been supporting corporate entities, whether it is with regard to abolition of capital gains, whether it is taking a big shaving cut on the loans which are outstanding. Corporate entities have been the beneficiary. Small and micro enterprises are suffering. Even under the reclassification, 95% of the industries belonging to micro scale industries. But we have not done anything to them. Less than 5 crore turnover is called now a micro industries. The least what we can do is to waive them from the GST payments. We have to make them competitive. We need to make them support and we need to protect them from the onslaught of corporate companies which are using them and not paying them. This is very important. Now coming to the corporate sector in the last 3 months of Covid times, accepting reliance which has only made investment based decisions, not business made decisions. Most of the industries listed companies in their first quarter have only posted huge losses. Maruti has posted a first quarter loss which is first time in the last 15 years. Accepting pharma companies, accepting few companies which were catering to the demands of the Covid situation, all other entities, industries have been posting first quarter as a red. Finance companies are going through toughest time in their life. NBFCs are struggling neither to collect their deposits nor in realizing the loans. There is no supportive mechanism adequately available for them. RBA governor himself has gone on record saying expected NPA is 14%. We are expecting the NPA will be about 30% by December 2020. Not easy. We have to make decisions now. It cannot be once in 3 months coming and making decisions. It has to be once in every week like how we have handled Covid. We have to handle the economy now. Every week there has to be either correction of decision or new decision must come otherwise we are losing hopes.