The Prime Minister of India  Narendra Modi had announced the Special economic and comprehensive package of Rs. 20 lakh crores under the Atmanirbhar scheme to help the nation to recover from the crisis faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic and also with a vision of making India a self-reliant nation.  The focus of Atmanirbhar Bharat is to encourage domestic players to work towards getting into the business ecosystem and reduce dependency on foreign players. In this regard Press Information Bureau, Guwahati on 21 July organized a Webinar on Atmanirbhar Bharat: the way forward. Resource persons from the different field shared their views and deliberated upon the scope of Atmanirbhar Bharat package in North East in the webinar.

L. R. Vishwanath, Head of North East Zone, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in his address said that in the announcement of the Atmanirbhar Bharat package a very unique and innovative integration has been made by the government and under this initiative, there is reform in every sector of the Indian economy. He said that it is important to have the vision to integrate each sector of the economy so that the wheels of different sectors rotate in equal unison. It is very important to give equal support to the small level industries as well, he said. Mentioning about the current crisis situation due to COVID-19 pandemic, Vishwanath said that everything that comes in the way as a hindrance offers an opportunity for innovation.

Citing the scope for entrepreneurship development in Atmanirbhar Bharat package, Manoj Kumar Das, Managing Director, NERAMAC and Former Director of Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship said that resources are plenty in North East which may be utilised properly with the robust financial package announced by the Government of India.

Calling the Atmanirbhar Bharat Package as an emerging scope for the growth of Cottage Industry in Assam, Ravi Shankar Ravi, writer and Editor, Dainik Purvoday said that this package is an opportunity to boost the rural economy. The rural industry can get the benefits of the package and the State government has a major role to play here. He also emphasized that indigenous products can help a lot in promoting micro industries in Assam.

Prof. S. S. Sarkar, Head of the Department of Commerce, Tezpur University said in his speech that the economic packages unveiled during the crisis period by the government of India will surely help in economic growth.

Dr. M.P. Bezbaruah, Former Head of Department, Department of Economics and Dean, Faculty of Arts, Gauhati University in his speech referred to the idea of self-sufficiency and its contemporary relevance.

Keerti Tiwari, Joint Director, PIB, Guwahati delivered the welcome address and Panthoibi Singha moderated the webinar.