Most people are of the opinion that the Bihar Startup Policy is not only doing well but also excelling in its execution. But, according to conversations with various start-ups and experts, the execution of the Policy is failing. After doing some more research, one of the main reasons I came across was the ‘more than necessary government involvement’ and officials indulging in corruption. It’s bitter but we need to accept it and make a call for it to be amended for better transparency in its execution and recruitment of the best people.
In one of my conversations with one of the officials involved in the drafting of the policy, he said, “We drafted the Policy to help our state and boost the startup ecosystem in Bihar, but unfortunately few people are taking it for granted and making this a business propaganda to make money through Incubation Program. As a result, we don’t have five ventures left in Bihar which can compete at a national level.”
Another reason behind the failed execution of the policy is the involvement of IAS officers, professors, and government officials who don’t have a basic idea about startups and business. The people managing the operations of the policy haven’t executed a single venture in their business lives. They don’t have enough experience and the required expertise to tackle the conditions and situations startups and entrepreneurship face.
Even Industry Ministers don’t have expertise in this field and, as a result, they are unable to take actions. Most of these officials are always on the lookout for commissions to pass even a single file as a bribe. Recently, a higher government official was arrested for taking bribes. This is only a single case; there are numerous more which get buried and never even come to light.
Even Incubation centres in Bihar were handed over to the professors, professors who again, don’t have experience in startups nor do they have the time to work on these projects. These professors already have their day full of classes and other administrative work. For instance, Dr. Bharat Gupta of NIT Patna, who was handed over the charge of the Incubation Center of NIT Patna, cannot afford the time for it, I’m sure. The same is the case with Dr Rajeev Verma of the CIMP Incubation Center, Dr Ashok Jha of Upendra Maharathi Shilp Anusandhan Sansthan Incubation Center.
Similarly, the Incubation Center of Magadh Mahila College hasn’t had a single startup idea in the last two years. They have only organised a few events related to startups on but they don’t even have a single venture. They don’t have proper space and mentors dedicated to startups in the college. We wrote to the Principal, Vice-Chancellor, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Patna University regarding the same, but they didn’t give a comment.
A perfect counterexample is that of W IIT Patna which is running well because they have appointed the right people outside of their institution. They have experience, knowledge and expertise in their domain and, as a result, ICIIT is running well. They have proper mentors and regular updates.
Recently, Abhishek Singh from BEA, in an interview with The Quint, said, “There is no doubt that this SC-ST Entrepreneur Schemes can provide employment to unemployed youth, but before lending, they need to be trained to do business. Anyone cannot make a person an entrepreneur just by giving them money, but he needs to guided correctly. Unemployed youth are taking loans after minor training, but they are not able to get business, which is why they are afraid of failure in business. The youth whose applications were rejected, they should be told why the applications have been rejected so that they can improve it next time.“
“While Bihar Entrepreneur Association Incubated Startups were few startups which raised funds( De Haat raised around 30 Crore, Infotech Aqua raised funds of more than 10 crores, health tech startups Medi360 raised 4 cr and SchoolGLink raised around 4 Crore), no other Incubation centre Startups from Bihar raised funds.”
However, so far, not very many conspicuously successful startups have succeeded in the state. Reasons such as lack of political will, migration of youth, and poor infrastructure seem to be the deterrents. Many startups have shifted out of Bihar, for example, Collobe is now based out of Bengaluru, while iMithila works from Noida.
“As of two years and three months now, only 56 startups have been funded. And, out of that, an evaluation of their performance needs to be done of the Incubator. If the Incubator takes 2 lakhs per selection, they should bear the responsibility also” say, Experts.
Today, it is essential we sit together and think over it. Due to the general aimlessness of the institution and prevalent corruption, the entire ecosystem is about to collapse. We need a more sound startup policy and transparent execution.