Entrepreneurship is a journey into the unknown; venturing into an activity whose rules are strange, regulations are new and dangers at every step. Under these circumstances, startups and entrepreneurs need assistance and guidance for sailing through the storm; and often, the time is very limited.
It seems Government is slowly but gradually understanding the need for such support system, and considering this, a new initiative has been launched which can prove to be a quite beneficial and timely for all entrepreneurs.
Twitter Sewa – Helpline for Entrepreneurs
In a first of its kind initiative, Government has decided to launch a dedicated helpline for entrepreneurs, which would be based on Twitter. Named as Twitter Sewa, any entrepreneur or startup can now use this helpline to get instant, timely support from the Government on any issue pertaining to their startup dream.
For instance, questions about funding, regulations for startups, rules related with incorporation and FDI can now be asked via Twitter Sewa for prompt replies.
Twitter Sewa has been conceptualized and created in association with Twitter, and is expected to be made live on April 21st. With this initiative, Startup India, Standup India will now get a greater push as help and assistance would be now consolidated and focussed.
An unnamed Govt. official said, “It is a very active grievance redressal mechanism through social media because most of the entrepreneurs that the ministry caters to are already online, so using Twitter to solve their problems makes sense,”
How Will It Work?
A special software is being developed, which will be equipped to handle the incoming messages, and promptly reply back with tags and relevant links.
As per initial reports, a team of officials from Ministry of Commerce would be deployed to monitor the tweets, and reply them. This team shall work to connect entrepreneurs with related venture capitalists, incubation centres, besides clearing doubts pertaining to funding, regulations and more such doubts.
Besides, it is also being said that Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman, will herself read the tweets, and delegate the tasks as per the requirement. It is rumored that this initiative has been undertaken after being inspired by Indian Railways, where Minister Prabhu himself monitors the tweets and prompts instant action based on the requests.
Do you think that an average SME from India uses Twitter? Should such helpline be phone based? Do share your opinions by commenting right here.
