Commissioner De Industries, Unemployment and Brain Drain-4

Commissioner De Industries, Unemployment

Burier continues his adventurous career. He finds financial institutions pressing for repayment of loans given to entrepreneurs. Recovery becomes impossible. Many are unable to repay. Banks initiate legal action for recovery. Legal notices are issued in rapid succession. Many units are closed. The government takes over a few of them. In many cases only a short interval existed between inauguration and closure. The government appoints a special task force to look after the assets of the units taken over. The co-author of the scheme flees the country and lands on a plum job in an inaccessible country. When the Press contacts him just before departure, he gives his assessment of the scheme. He says “the scheme is a grand success but the promoters are colossal failures”

Those units which are completed have no electricity. The express sanction of loans for the projects provided added attraction for the officials. They interpret any decision taken as part of official duty as a favor and cash it at a premium. Real entrepreneurship manifests in sanctioning and executing part of the project requiring finance and not obviously as managerial skill or ability. “Cuts, cuts everywhere”, “Self before service” are the mottos and this finds expansion of the banking industry though temporarily.

The venture leaves disastrous effects on the economy. Several sheds are vacant for want of entrepreneurs. Wandering impoverished cattle replace them. Cattle owners find the sheds an ideal shelter for their uncared animals. Some of them, who stood with the project until disbursal of the loan, disappear leaving the bankers to console themselves by having cattle in the sheds as security. The herds find excellent shelter inside and are protected from sun and rain. In many cases the entrepreneurs acquire the traits of thieves.They display entrepreneurial qualities more in ensuring default of loans than in successfully running the units. They run away and go into hiding for fear of the police or court decree.

In short the program crashes before it takes off. After many attempts and as a last resort the authorities organize a grand festival to write off loans. The borrowers welcome this and want this to be an annual feature so that they can confidently start industries with borrowed funds. This is really venture capital. It means venturing without own capital.

The innovative approach of Burier attracts attention of political heads including deadwoods. They find in him a reservoir of talent and ideas and are eager to tap them. They turn their attention to the problem of unemployment and entrust the task of finding a solution, to Burier. He is given additional charge of the portfolio.

Burier evolves a novel idea of developing women entrepreneurs. He chooses a high profile society lady of large proportions and wide dimensions but with a penetrating intellect as the chair person of the task force. She submits a detailed proposal on making steel castings in a foundry. Any woman who pays $100 is entitled to join as a shareholder and additional bank finance is organized. (To be continued).