Nitin Gadkari Meets EEMA, Assures Action on Issues Faced by Industry

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Industry Watch | April 8, 2021 | News

EEMA Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways, and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Nitin Gadkari, and representatives of the event industry’s apex body EEMA, met on 6 April to discuss issues faced by the event and entertainment sector. 

The EEMA delegation comprised its Government Interaction Committee led by Executive Vice President Samit Garg, Treasurer EEMA Major KJS Gurna, Zonal Vice President (North) Prerana Saxena and principal member EEMA Rajeev Jain.

They impressed on the Minister that the event and entertainment sector, which saw massive impact due to the Covid19 pandemic, had just started to see some green shoots before getting hit again due to the surging cases.

The meeting also discussed grant of industry status for event industry businesses. The delegation urged the Government to bring the policy as soon as possible to recognize the industry, for strengthening the sector.

The other points discussed included:

• Listing of Event Management as an exclusive category in the MSME NIC code list under Udyam Registration

• Providing focused MSME guidelines and schemes for the event industry businesses 

• Schemes offering working capital with collaterals at low and affordable interest rates for the sustainability and growth of the event industry

• Fast-track clearances of government dues under the MSME Samadhaan – Delayed Payment Monitoring System 

Minister Gadkari assured EEMA that all the matters will be discussed, and that action will be taken soon.

Roshan Abbas, President, EEMA, said, “EEMA has been working to make the government realize the value of what we do. And Shri Gadkari had promised to address our issues last at the EEMA Summit. We are glad he took time to understand the issue and has assured us of help. Now is the perfect time for event managers to join EEMA and strengthen us further.”

Samit Garg, Executive Vice President, EEMA, said, "It was extremely encouraging to see the immediate response of the Hon'ble Minister and how he got the concerned office bearers together in no time to listen to us and address our requests. It was a day well spent between his residence and Udyog Bhawan and we are very upbeat about the expected outcome."