e-newsletter

The e-newsletter of the scheme was launched on 17^th February 2012, on the occasion of the second anniversary celebration of the scheme implementation.  We have now over 1500 members from various MSMEs, industry associations and designers from across the country empanelled with us for the scheme. Over the last two years we have been keeping in touch with each of our empanelled members through emails and direct contacts to keep them updated with the scheme progress and for the various opportunities arising out of the scheme implementation. Last few months we have tried out weekly emails for this purpose and the need was clearly felt to have formal communication channel with all our empanelled members as well as also to now reach out to other stakeholders of the scheme that are the government organizations, industry associations and apex bodies, institutes and other related departments etc.

One of the objectives of the scheme being to create a platform for constant interaction and communication amongst the country’s large MSME industries and the design fraternity, it is our constant endeavors to explore various different communication mediums to inform, involve and encourage the stakeholders of the scheme to benefit from design. Thus during these last two years we have explored all the different possibilities and mediums to promote and encourage MSME members as well as the design fraternity to come forward, empanel with the scheme and take the benefits of this unique design intervention scheme to improve products and business. With these continued efforts of promotion to encourage new members, the newsletter is expected to maintain the much needed communication channel to inform the already empaneled members of the progress as well as create opportunities to interact with each other. 

With all the four zonal centers of the scheme well established, with the encouraging supports from different industry associations and apex bodies and through the constant and continuous efforts from the implementation team, there are now many different activities such as design awareness seminars (we have now already completed 177 seminars across the country), design awareness programmes and design projects organized/happening through out the country every month. The newsletter would help all the stakeholders – the participating industry members, designers, organizers as well as the implementation team members to share their experiences and concerns.

25 members from different MSME industries from across the country, government organizations and the implementation team have just returned back from Yokohamma, Japan as part of the exposure to the global best practices in design. This visit and the five-day training programme organized by AOTS, Japan for these participants, was organized and supported by the scheme. Recently the West Bengal government has come forward to financially support part of the contribution required from the MSME units and their associations for undertaking design awareness programme as well as the design projects at the association as well as the individual industry level. The newsletter is expected to share many such information as well as the experiences emerging out of the scheme participation and implementation.