- Rahul's struggling journey of 9 months for building a manufacturing facility in his land gets delayed for obtaining the NA Certificate
- The countless documents and the kilometers increased the distance between his dream and reality
- Rohan takes his plight to the public by sharing a blog, which finally gets noticed by authorities
“Money is an information system for labor allocation” – Elon. Rohan, a finance student from Maharashtra never forgot to add the quote in his twitter account. But here money is not the villain for his dream to start a manufacturing unit in his 3 acres land in Sangli district, Maharashtra. The struggling journey of 9 months without any success made him reveal his situation to the world. “Yes, you need to obtain “permission” before you build any manufacturing structure on your land with your capital. This permission is called the NA or Non-Agricultural Certificate.” he added to the blog “I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India.” He knocked many doors for permission to build a manufacturing unit in his land. These sophistications made him wait from November 2019 and still, the struggle continues.
Rohan’s experience is certainly not standalone – and there are plenty – case of showing how despite Government’s well-willed policies, the real benefits remain unavailable to the real seekers of ‘Ease of Doing Business’.
Rohan dreamed of a start-up in a land where the “Make in India” guaranteed all facilities for the emerging entrepreneurs with Ease of Doing Business news inspiring many. But the problems arose when he approached the authorities with the application. After an inquiry, he found the way to get a NA certificate was the “Revenue Department” and there he was told to submit a list of documents. Even though he faced some difficulties, he was successful in the submission of the affidavit, application form, and all land records since 1950, and the official plot map.
Non-stop NOCs Vs Ease of Doing Business
The exhausting second level of the application put him in big trouble after the visit from the Revenue Department. There he was given a letter, addressing 11 different departments and to collect the NOC (Non-Objection Certificate) from each department. From each department, he was asked for another bunch of documents. He, literally, sank in the drift of NOCs. He traveled across the district to find the location for each department and after 4 months he was able to reach every department. His first application was to PWD NOC, from there he was directed to Mahavitaran or Mahadiscom which distributes electricity in the state of Maharashtra.
#AtmaNirbharBharat
is about empowerment of self reliance, should not be destruction of self confidence!!!#easeofdoingbusiness@makeinindia
All becomes meaningless in front of @mrohanshah https://t.co/Uxc0CsKm0i@PMOIndia @minmsme@nitin_gadkari @themachinemaker@narendramodi— Hari Shanker (@harishankerag) August 10, 2020
Mahavitaran visited and ensured that there was no electric line over the property was accomplished, but is pending due to documents required from two village authorities, still pending. The signature of Mahavitaran remains useless without the two other signatures. The next blow was from irrigation departments' demand to pay Rs.2,89,000 as Government fee. He is still waiting to hear back from the Tahsildar office and waited for 4 months to get a word. The Gram Panchayat NOC and each department welcomed him with a new compliant to be followed. The countless documents and the kilometers increased the distance between his dream and reality, which also proved for Rohan, Ease of Doing Business is not a reality for many.
Hundreds of Rohans; Many Cities
The story got viral within two days with industry leaders taking the cause of Rohan through different Social Media channels. Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho Corporation tweeted “This post narrates the pain involved in setting up a small manufacturing unit in rural Maharashtra. It is a sobering read. We urgently need reforms to enable small scale manufacturing units in rural areas.” The replies provided strong support for the incident. The EODB (Ease of Doing Business) India, through the reply, accepts it as a serious issue.
The tweet also brought the fact that the people from several states suffered almost the same experience when they ventured with different initiatives. “That post brought back memories. Almost four years ago, we submitted a proposal to the Chennai Corporation and Govt of TN requesting permission to put up a national flag in the city. After some 20 odd NoCs, it’s now stuck in some dept lacking “political will”, tweets Vijay Anand, founder of The Startup Centre. Mahesh Krishnasamy also reacted to the tweet that his sister has been trying to get approval for Play School in Tamil Nadu for 2 years. So the unease of doing business becomes a prevalent hurdle for many future manufacturers. Neither the idea nor the capital, but the permission demands a lot.
These Ease of Doing Business issues have been noted and we will be following up with States to resolve them. Thanks to feedback like these and followup action, India has improved significantly on this front and will keep working to improve further.
— EODB India (@EODB_India) August 11, 2020
The former Infosys director T V Mohandas Pai also held a hand with Roshan through his tweet, “I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India…Sir we need to make greater ease for an entrepreneur: Remove 74% of rules”. So, the tweets revealed that the rules and regulations act as the red signal which stops the emerging secondary sector, and a blot to Make in India initiatives, Atmanirbhar Bharat & questions the improvement in Ease of Doing Business in the country.
The Law behind NA Certificate
As per the law of Maharashtra, the conversion of agricultural land to industrial land is permitted only when the land is unfit for cultivation. So the list of “permissions” is securing the land from corruption and maintaining the primary sector. The emerging small and medium scale industry gave a great space for agriculture also in Maharashtra. The rules act as a fence to keep the agricultural land safe.
“Getting agricultural land to NA is one of the toughest jobs in Maharashtra. A little research before trying for it would have set expectations straight. It has not got a lot to do with Manufacturing”, informed Legal Consultant Seema Dubey. She adds, “There is no doubt this young man needs to get support, but if this provision wasn't there, the builders would have usurped most of the agricultural land by now. Most states have made property-related formalities go digital”.
No More Distance to Ease of Doing Business
During this article is made, we tried to reach Rohan, and found he updated his blog sharing the gratitude towards people who helped to make it a viral story through social media. “A lot of people have helped reach this post to very very high-in-the-hierarchy people in the state and central government as well as major national political parties. I am really very thankful to everyone.” added by Rohan. He ensured that his next step will be to find the exact procedure to get the NA permission.
I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India… – Superr. @PMOIndia @narendramodi @RajivKumar1 @amitabhk87 @PiyushGoyal @AmitShah Sir we need to make greater ease for entrepreneur:Remove 74% of rules https://t.co/54meCyoAsw
— Mohandas Pai (@TVMohandasPai) August 11, 2020
The ‘Make in Maharashtra’, a stream of ‘Make in India’ was a boon for Maharashtra which was already famous for small or medium scale industries. It provided a platform for new entrepreneurs to achieve their dreams. The silence and carelessness of authorities pull back the talented entrepreneurs who can be the one in the 0.1 percent of corporates or multinationals in future India. The delay in Rohan’s dream is created by the signatures. The lack of support from the authorities of different departments becomes a great challenge to new manufacturers and a threat to the accomplishment of the “Make in India.”
India’s jump of 14th places to 63rd rank on the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ report for 2019, is a reason for many to celebrate. However, in the absence of a comprehensive index for ease of doing business, the plight of aspiring entrepreneurs will continue. Prime Minister made an aspiring call at the World Economic Forum in 2018 to place India within the 50 best-ranked countries by 2020. With many like Rohan, still struggling with the imposed uneasiness by India’s bureaucratic mess and whose voices may not have been heard yet, the real ‘Ease of Doing Business’ remains as elusive as ever.
