Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched on Monday the CHAMPIONS Technology Platform, the MSME Ministry's one-stop-shop solution that would seek to develop and grow smaller businesses by resolving their grievances.
The acronym CHAMPIONS stands for Creation and Harmonious Application of Modern Processes for Increasing the Output and National Strength.
This ICT-based system has been set up to help small and medium-sized enterprises in the current difficult situation and to ensure that they become national and international champions, an official statement said.
Specifically, in the difficult situation created by the COVID-19, it would work to resolve the problems of MSMEs including those of finance, raw material, labour, regulatory permissions etc. It would also help them capture new opportunities, including the manufacture of medical equipment and accessories such as PPEs, masks, etc., and supply them on domestic and international markets.
It would also identify potential MSMEs capable of withstanding the current situation and being able to become national and international champions.
It is a control room-cum-management information system packed with technology. The system is enabled by Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics and Machine Learning in addition to ICT tools including telephone, internet, and video conferencing. It is also fully integrated in real-time with the main grievance portal of GOI CPGRAMS and the other web-based mechanisms of MSME Ministry itself.
With the assistance of NIC, the entire ICT architecture was created in-house at no cost. Similarly, in record time, the physical infrastructure was created in one of the dumping rooms at the ministry, the official statement said.
A network of control rooms was created within a Hub and Spoke Model as part of the system. The hub is located at the office of secretary MSME in New Delhi. The spokes are in various MSME ministry offices and institutions in the states. To date, 66 control rooms at state-level have been created and made functional. In addition to the Champions portal, they are also connected via videoconference. A detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was issued to the officers and employees were deployed, and training was conducted for the officers.
