Creating Entrepreneurs in India

Abstract

combination of historical factors--including the caste system, British occupation, cultural values, and government regulations--have limited innovative entrepreneurship in India. More recently, efforts have focused on changing the cultural mind set in India regarding entrepreneurship and on creating entrepreneurs by giving youth the self confidence to become high achievers. Situated in southern Asia, the Indian subcontinent has over 7,000 km. of coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Republic of India shares land boundaries with Bangladesh (formerly Pakistan East), Bhutan, Myanmar (formerly Burma), China (PRC), Nepal, and Pakistan. India's population, officially approaching 1 billion [1], is multicultural. Ethnic groups include Indo-Nordics, Dravidians, and Mongoloids. Among India's socio-religious groups are the Baghdadi Jews, Bene Israels, Christians, Cochini Jews, Hindus, Jains, Moslems, Parsis, and Sikhs. largest religious group is the Hindu community which is segmented into varna (classes) believed to have originated in functional occupations. four principal higher varna are Brahmin (priests), Kshtriya (warriors), Vaishya (traders), and Shudra (artisans). untouchables have been assigned the lowest social ranking. Even during the 20th century, these people have been required to maintain a physical distance of 64 feet from the Brahmins, and 30 feet from the Shudras. India's caste system, a social and religious hierarchy, is central to the people's cultural beliefs. Each individual has a dharma (duty) specific to the caste of birth. This combination of social structure and cultural values has constrained entrepreneurship in India. However, in recent years, there have been a number of efforts to shift the national mind set regarding entrepreneurship, particularly among India's youth, in whom it is hoped an entrepreneurial personality can be developed. This article gives an overview of some of these efforts. Entrepreneurship in India: An Historical Perspective Since ancient times, Indian products have made their way to markets abroad, Muslin from India was used by the Pharaohs for Egyptian mummies (Datt and Sundharam 1968). Jains, an ascetic religious group, have long been a trading sect in India, not out of an entrepreneurial spirit based on materialism, but rather because trading was an occupation that kept them relatively free from conflict with the requirements of their religious practices. Marwaris (formerly known as Banias) are a non-Bengali caste specializing in domestic trade. Their enterprises have complemented those of English entrepreneurs who allowed the Marwaris to become prominent in a diversified industrial economy. Under the British during the 19th India began to industrialize, and Indian entrepreneurs were instrumental in the spread of manufacturing (Medhora 1965). In contrast, other groups of Indian entrepreneurs had experiences of another kind. During the 1800s, the British discriminated against those communities (such as the Bengalis) that competed with English entrepreneurs in international commerce. Many Indian entrepreneurs were thus forced out of the business realm. During the 1880s, local firms with established reputations were defrauded by British partners, an action which led to more withdrawals from the business sector. Regarding this, Nafziger comments, The lack of indigenous entrepreneurship [in India]... stems in part from the discrimination and duplicity of the British in the 19th century (1971, p.30). Between 1912 and 1945, industrial production in India doubled (Balakrishna 1961). During the 1920s and 1930s, the Jains (especially the Marwari Jains) shifted their activity from trading to manufacturing, breaking away from their scriptural teaching. India's independence, made official on August 15, 1947, was described as a tryst with destiny, by India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. …

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