In News:

The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), Shillong, under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), organised an awareness webinar on the Corporate Mitra Scheme for youth, students and MSMEs in Arunachal Pradesh.

About the Corporate Mitra Scheme

The Corporate Mitra Scheme is a Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) initiative aimed at creating a network of trained and accredited para-professionals ("Corporate Mitras") to provide affordable compliance and business support services to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

The scheme primarily targets Tier-II and Tier-III cities, helping MSMEs reduce regulatory and compliance burdens while enabling young graduates to acquire industry-relevant skills and employment opportunities. It supports the vision of Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) and Viksit Bharat @2047.

Key Features

The scheme aims to train 2,000 participants across India in its initial phase, including 200 candidates from the North Eastern Region (NER). To encourage participation from the region, NER candidates are eligible for a 50% concession in course fees.

Accredited Corporate Mitras will assist MSMEs in non-core business functions such as:

• Regulatory and statutory compliance
• Secretarial services
• Accounting and bookkeeping
• Taxation support
• Financial documentation
• Corporate governance-related activities

The training programme is offered through the SWAYAM Plus digital learning platform, bridging the gap between academic education and industry requirements.

For the Northeast, IICA Shillong has been designated as the nodal agency to coordinate implementation and promote the scheme in collaboration with State Governments, universities and industry bodies.