"Public procurement can be a powerful instrument of social inclusion." Examine with reference to the National SC-ST Hub.

Government buying offers assured demand, a lever few welfare schemes have. The Public Procurement Policy for MSEs Order, 2012, issued under the MSMED Act, 2006, sets aside 4% of central procurement for SC/ST-owned MSEs [3]. The National SC-ST Hub (NSSH, 2016), run by NSIC under the Ministry of MSME, puts this into practice and shows both the promise and the limits of the tool [1].

How NSSH uses procurement for inclusion

• Market access: NSIC registration gives free tender sets and EMD exemption; the scheme also helps firms get onto GeM [1][2].
• Lower entry costs: a 25% capital subsidy (capped at ₹25 lakh) under SCLCSS, plus 80% reimbursement of loan-processing and bank-guarantee charges (capped at ₹1 lakh) [1].
• Skills matched to demand: 54,499 people trained in GeM-relevant trades by July 2026; 55% of 2025-26 trainees were women, across 24 Aspirational Districts [1].
• Social change: SC/ST communities move from job-seekers to job-creators, advancing Article 46 [4].

Outcomes

• Procurement rose from ₹99.37 crore (0.07%) in 2015-16 [2] to ₹4,013.42 crore from 12,524 MSEs in 2025-26 [1].
• 1,90,414 beneficiaries; Assam is among the top five States [1].

Structural limits

• Target missed: the SC/ST share is only 1.59% against 4% [2]. CPSEs buy 47.4% from MSEs but only 1.85% from SC/ST MSEs. The gap is caste-specific: buyers can meet the 25% MSE target without SC/ST suppliers [5].
• Weak accountability: a shortfall of about ₹18,000–20,000 crore over six years; negative marking of 76 CPSEs in 2023-24 changed nothing [5].
• Subsidy tied to credit: SCLCSS pays only on machinery bought with institutional credit, and just 3,160 MSEs have received it. This leaves out entrepreneurs without collateral [1].
• No help after the award: firms get no working-capital support to deliver the orders they win.

Way forward

• Set CPSE-wise sub-targets, require public disclosure of shortfalls, link penalties to MoUs and integrate MSME Sambandh with GeM, as the Standing Committee recommended [5].
• Link NSSH with Stand-Up India and CGTMSE for collateral-free credit and working capital.

NSSH shows that state demand can build SC/ST enterprise ownership, but after a decade it has delivered access more than parity. Enforcing the 4% sub-target and easing credit can make public procurement a real driver of Article 46 and of inclusive growth under SDG 10.