DBS Bank India along with Haqdarshak jumps to assist Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises with the help of Haqdarshak’s newly unveiled platform

DBS Bank India along with Haqdarshak has jumped to assist Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises via Haqdarshak’s newly unveiled platform that provides access to MSME-focused and government-assisted schemes across the country.

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has hampered the growth of the MSME sector and several business owners needed assistance to come out of the uncertainty and build resilience. This year, just like other businesses, social ventures also suffered from the impact and financial goals of the pandemic. Several reports suggest that small and medium scale enterprises have been the worst affected. Keeping this into mind, Haqdarshak developed a new platform for MSME-focused government welfare schemes, covering registrations, documentation and applications for financing.

To support enterprises in this difficult time, DBS Foundation set-up a Business Transformation and Improvement (BTI) Grant to offer additional funding to the past grant awardees, so that these enterprises could protect jobs, as well as pivot in search of new income streams.

Earlier this year, Haqdarshak received funding under the DBS Foundation BTI Grant that empowers them to continue serving their beneficiaries and the wider MSME community. Haqdarshak’s first platform was developed to ensure that citizens can access and apply for government and private welfare schemes.

In 2018, Haqdarshak received DBS Foundation’s annual Social Enterprise (SE) Grant for their citizen-focused platform. DBS Foundation’s BTI grant of Rs 2.7 million helped Haqdarshak to ensure expansion into this segment. The new platform provides information pertaining to government schemes such as SIDBI Loan Scheme for MSMEs, Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme, Prime Minister Street vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi Yojana, etc. With this initiative, Haqdarshak aims to reach 100,000 MSMEs and support 1 million jobs annually.

Sudarshan Chari, Head-Business Banking, DBS Bank India said, “At DBS, we are committed to empowering MSMEs to unlock new opportunities. We have introduced initiatives that complement the government’s relief measures and support businesses that have been impacted by disruptions arising due to COVID-19. Haqdarshak’s differentiated model addresses a critical gap in the delivery of welfare schemes, servicing as a one-stop solution for MSMEs to access the right government-assisted schemes. We believe that the proposition will benefit them tremendously in their road to recovery.”

Aniket Doegar, CEO and co-founder, Haqdarshak Empowerment Solutions Private Limited said, “Over the last three years, Haqdarshak has reached over 4 lakh families and helped ease their access to government welfare programs. COVID-19 has hit small businesses the most with loss in revenue, and a cash flow crunch. With our MSME-focused service, we intend to help these business access financing and other welfare services which the government has designed. DBS has been our supporter through this journey, and with their expertise and leadership in the MSME segment, we hope to scale up faster and better with this partnership.”