Entrepreneurial Development Programme (EDP) is an organised and systematic development programme designed to help a person to motivate him for an entrepreneurial career. It makes him capable of perceiving the opportunities and exploiting them successfully for setting up an enterprise. Over the years, the EDPs have bcome a vital strategy for harnessing the vast untapped human skills, to channelise them into accelerating industrialisation in general and growth of small-scale sector in particular.
People appreciate the need for and importance of EDPs when they found that achievement motivation which is the result of EDPs had a positive impact on the performance of the entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial competencies can be developed and induced through EDPs instill confidence amongst the participants and prepare them to face numerous problems confronting business boldly and patiently.
The need for EDPs can be well judged from the following points:
i. Helps in removing Poverty and Unemployment:
EDPs are in a massive scale undertaken in backward and rural areas which are confronted with chronic problem of poverty and unemployment. EDPs help the people in getting self- employment. It helps in creating employment opportunities for the unemployed there by increasing the standard of living.
ii. Prevents Industrial Slums:
EDPs help in removing the industrial slums which are created in highly congested industrial areas. The entrepreneurs through EDPs are able to set up their enterprises in different places best suited to their product. They learn through EDPs about various schemes, incentives, facilities, infrastructural requirements etc. for their enterprise. This helps in the dispersal of industrial units which ultimately prevents growth of industrial slums and industrial pollution.
iii. Helps in achieving Balanced Regional Development:
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The need for EDPs arise in order to solve the problem of regional imbalances which is an important feature of underdeveloped nations. EDPs are basically provided to establish small scale industrial units in remote areas with little financial resources (mostly backward and underdeveloped areas) in order to accelerate the pace of industrialization. It helps in the reduction of concentration of economic power, thus leads towards achievement of balanced regional development.
iv. Uses locally available resources:
EDPs help the entrepreneurs in harnessing the available local resources for creating a healthy base for sound economic growth and rapid industrialization. It help in channelizing on right lines the talent and energies of unemployed youth. It thus helps in easing social tension.