Determinants of Microenterprise Development in North-Eastern Region of India: Evidences from Imphal West District of Manipur

Sustainable development and income generation is one of the fundamental activities of any society. Human capital with other resources like raw material, money and machineries, if multiplied in the proportionate ratio, can result in development. The problems associated with regional imbalance, social tension and youth unrest are due to educated youth not being engaged in productive work. The only viable option to mitigate this problem is to change the attitude of people from "wage employment opportunities" to "self-employment career". The North-Eastern Region (NER) of India is famous for its unique culture, handicrafts, natural beauty and plenty of natural resources. The State of Manipur in particular and other States in this region in general, are facing the problems of unemployment, social unrest, law and order, lack of infrastructure, uncertainty, poor industrial establishments, etc. Because of these factors, the NER of India is lagging behind the other parts of the country in terms of development. In order to transform this region into an economically developed one, micro-entrepreneurial activities can be considered as an accelerator. If such activities have been performed in an efficient and effective way, the aforesaid problems can be mitigated or even solved to a certain extent. The present paper is an attempt to examine the determinants of micro-enterprise development in NER of India with special reference to Imphal West district of Manipur.