Please accept my greetings for the month of August; the 15^th day of the month heralded the nation with the sunshine of freedom. This is now the 59^th year and we shall from celebrate the golden jubilee of this momentous occasion.

The people of our country looked forward to freedom for they expected it to bring them a new era of wellbeing. We have prospered since then and our country today is on a threshold of new epoch. The world is looking at us with amazement and India is the flavor of the new millennium. It fills me with pride as it must be the case with you all.

Yet it must be admitted that while the large scale industry is making big strides the cottage, small and medium enterprises are faced with new challenges. As a consequence of rapid technological changes most of the small and medium enterprises are saddled with the equipment and infrastructure, which do not match the needs of the time. The situation calls for immediate and consistent appraisal of the ever changing situation to be backed by actions which will enable us to cope with the emerging situations.

Unfortunately very little is being done at the government level as of now as far as the small and medium enterprises are concerned. We at the federation are working to draw the attention of the various agencies in order to derive proper and adequate support from them. I would like to seek your support and urge upon you to give us an insight into your problems. Do not forget to mention the solutions if you have any in your mind. This would immensely help us in initiating meaningful dialogues at all appropriate levels.

 Your federation is playing a proactive role in the direction of helping and developing the rural economy. The new counsel which was constituted in July started right and earnest and we organized a program at Udainarayanpur. The highlights of the program are appearing in this issue. We believe that the wealth generated should percolate down to the lowest level. While we look forward to support from the large scale sector for our growth we are keen to do our bit for the cottage scale industry, tiny sector and self help groups.

 I will be ever so keen to hear from you.

With best wishes.

  Pradeep Rawat