Small and Medium Enterprises through Khadi and Village Industries Commission in Implementing the Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme

(a) to (c)  A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION No. 117 FOR ANSWERON 11.02.2019 

(a)&(b)  Government in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises through Khadi and Village Industries Commission(KVIC) is implementing the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), a major credit-linked subsidy scheme since 2008-09, to set up micro enterprises and to generate employment in rural and urban areas of the country. The maximum cost of the project under PMEGP scheme is Rs.25.00 lakhs for manufacturing sector units and Rs.10.00 lakhs for units under service sector. Under the scheme, women entrepreneurs are covered under Special Category and are entitled to 25% and 35% subsidies for the project set up in urban and rural areas respectively. For women beneficiaries, own contribution is only 5% of the project cost while for general category it is 10%. About 30% projects have been setup by women out of total projects set up under PMEGP. The State-wise projects set up by women so far is placed at Annexure-I. 

(c)  Ministry of MSME, through KVIC, implements following schemes for rural women so as to improve their social and economic conditions, including those living below the poverty line in the country: 

1) Khadi Programme: For the development and promotion of Khadi Programme, KVIC implements following Schemes with the support of 34 State/UT Khadi and Village Industries Boards (KVIBs), and 2518 Khadi Institutions are providing employment to4.65 lakh persons (cumulative) out of which more than 80% artisans are women. Share of participation of women under Khadi Programme is placed at Annexure-II: 

• i) Market Promotion and Development Assistance (MPDA). 

• ii) Interest Subsidy Eligibility Certificate (ISEC) 

• iii) AamAdmiBimaYojana (erstwhile Jana Shree BimaYojana) 

• iv) Artisans Welfare Fund Trust (AWFT) 

• v) Workshed Scheme for Khadi Artisans 

• vi) Strengthening of Infrastructure of Existing Weak Khadi Institutions and Assistance for Marketing Infrastructure. 

2) Village Industries Programme is broadly classified under seven groups for the purpose of implementation of its programmes, which are as under: 

• i) Agro Based and Food Processing Industry (ABFPI) 

• ii) Forest Based Industry (FBI) 

• iii) Hand Made Paper and Fibre Industry (HMPFI) 

• iv) Mineral Based Industry (MBI) 

• v) Polymer and Chemical Based Industry (PCBI) 

• vi) Rural Engineering and Bio-Technology Industry (REBT) 

• vii) Service & Textile Industry 

3) Mission Solar Charkha has been launched by the Ministry to provide employment opportunities to women in rural India. The scheme provides setting up ‘Solar Charkha Clusters’, in a focal village, whereby artisans from surrounding villages in a radius of 8 to 10 kilometres can be benefitted through training and production of fabric out of solar charkhas. 

4) Khadi Reform and Development Programme (KRDP) aims to revitalize the khadi sector with enhanced sustainability of khadi, increased incomes and employment for spinners and weavers, increased artisans’ welfare and to achieve synergy with village industries. ‘Khadi Reform Package’ envisages reform support in the following areas: (i) Artisan Earnings and Empowerment, (ii) Direct Reform Assistance to 400 Khadi Institutions & (iii) Implementation of a well-knit Management Information System (MIS). 

5) Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) has been under implementation since 2005-06 for making Traditional Industries more productive and competitive by organizing the Traditional Industries and artisans into clusters. The Scheme envisages providing need-based assistance for replacement of production equipment, setting up of common facility centres (CFC), product development, quality improvement, improved marketing, training and capacity building etc. The scheme was modified as revamped SFURTI scheme during 2016-17. 

6) Capacity Building (CB): KVIC conducts training programmes through 40 departmental and non-departmental training centres. These training centres impart need-based training under various disciplines viz. Soap and Detergent making, Food Items, Bakery Products, Ready Made Garments, Beekeeping, Agarbatti making, candle making, motor winding etc. 

7) Science & Technology: Research and Development (R&D) is a vital input for stepping up productivity by bringing improvement in equipment and manufacturing techniques of the craftsman. KVIC continues to increase the productivity and earnings of artisans and make the production process more artisan-friendly by reducing drudgery in their work. Various advance technologies have been developed under Research & Development schemes of KVIC, which bring a significant difference in the quality, productivity and packaging of the products manufactured by the rural industries sector.