Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship R.K. Singh on Wednesday said that the government is taking several measures to promote rural and tribal entrepreneurship.

Government of India, through Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, has taken initiatives for implementing entrepreneurship development schemes and programmes for the youth and women of the Country through entrepreneurship education, handholding & mentorship and essential linkages with financial and market institutions, said Singh.

Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is implementing a project on entrepreneurship promotion and mentoring of micro and small enterprises in six temple towns of Puri, Varanasi, Haridwar, Kollur, Pandharpur and Bodh Gaya, to tap the entrepreneurial potential of first generation entrepreneurs, educated unemployed youth, school/college dropouts, women, youth from backward community etc., he added.

To encourage women entrepreneurship, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is implementing a project named ‘Economic Empowerment of Women Entrepreneurs and Startups by Women’ in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Germany.

The project pilots incubation and acceleration programmes for women micro entrepreneurs to start new businesses and scale up existing enterprises in Assam, Rajasthan and Telangana. The project has the target to pilot the incubation programme with 250 women and the acceleration programme with 100 women.

The first cohort of the support programme ended in April-May, 2020 and the second cohort has commenced in July, 2020.

MSDE is implementing a pilot scheme, PM YUVA (PM Yuva Udyamita Vikas Abhiyan) towards creating an enabling ecosystem through entrepreneurship education, training advocacy and easy access to the entrepreneurship network and focuses on students/trainees and alumni coming out of the skilling ecosystem such as Industrial Training Institutes, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra, Jan Shikshan Sansthan, etc.

Further, Govt. of India, through Ministry of Rural Development, is implementing Skill development Training programmes through Rural Self Employment and Training Institutes (RSETIs) which has the provision of Bank Credit facility for setting-up micro enterprises by the skill trainees.

This scheme is aimed at increasing employability of rural poor youth for either wage or self employment.

RSETI program is currently being implemented through 585 RSETIs by 23 Leading Banks (both Public Sector and Private Sector as well as few Gramin Banks) in 33 States/UTs covering 566 Districts in the country.

Out of these, there are 30 RSETIs in Odisha, including 3 RSETIs in the KBK region, for providing training to the rural poor in various skill entrepreneurship development activities, free of cost to enable them to start enterprises of their own.

Start-Up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) is implemented by Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana –National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Ministry of Rural Development, since 2016,with the objective to support the rural poor come out of poverty, supporting them set up enterprises and provide support till the enterprises stabilize, SVEP focusses on providing self-employment opportunities with financial assistance and training in business management and soft skills while creating local community cadres for promotion of enterprises. SVEP has extended business support services and capital infusion in 23 states, including Odisha.

Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana (PMVDY) by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is a Market Linked Entrepreneurship Development Programme for forming cluster of Tribal Self Help Groups and strengthening them into Tribal Producer Companies.

The Government through Department of Financial Services has launched the Stand-up India Scheme to facilitate Bank loans from Scheduled Commercial Banks between Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 1 crore to at least 1 Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe borrower and at least 1 women borrower per bank branch for setting up a Greenfield enterprise in trading services or manufacturing sector.

Further, Govt. of India through Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) is implementing the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), which has the target to generate self-employment opportunities through establishment of micro enterprises for non-farm sector.

The maximum cost of projects is Rs. 25 lakh in the manufacturing sector and Rs. 10 lakh in the service sector. Benefit can be availed under PMEGP for setting up of new units only.