Jammu Tawi, Feb 22: Jammu and Kashmir Khadi and Village Industries Board (J&K KVIB) has released a whopping amount of Rs. 348.48 crore as margin money (subsidy) in favour of entrepreneurs who had applied loan from the board since 2019, Vice Chairperson KVIB, Dr Hina Shafi Bhat said.
VC informed that the board has released this amount to 15,459 unit holders under JK Rural Employment Generation Programme (JKREGP) and Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) directly benefitting 118,188 individuals of the UT in these 3 years.
Dr Bhat said that KVIB has no cap on extending assistance to local youth and can provide handholding to any number of youth willing to start their enterprises in the UT. She said that the board has created employment avenues for lakhs of educated unemployed, poor, down-trodden and marginal sections of the society.
She also revealed that KVIB under the mission ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' is ensuring its reach to all segments of the society. She stated that 5338 women entrepreneurs have been assisted by the board under its various programmes including providing subsidy of Rs. 1.58 crore to 49 ex-servicemen and war widows.
Besides, J&K KVIB is establishing eight clusters under handloom, handicrafts and beekeeping sectors under Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of traditional Industries (SFURTI) of Union Ministry of MSME, she informed. She added that the scheme aims at protecting the interests of traditional artists and craftsmen who have adopted the traditional trades for earning their livelihoods. She informed that the clusters are being established with an approved assistance of Rs 20 crore from the Union Ministry of MSME involving 10000 artisans/beekeepers, directly and indirectly, in line with the promises made by PM Modi.
Under National Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe Hub (NSSH) scheme the board has conducted 23 awareness camps, 10 workshops, 10 vendor development programmes and 06 exhibitions besides imparting training to 922 SC and ST candidates under Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP).
Regarding the role of board during the ensuing pandemic, VC highlighted that KVIB has worked hard in fighting Covid-19 by manufacturing more than 11 lakh mask through its Khadi institutions and PMEGP/JKREGP unit holders thereby creating approximately 10,500 man days of work. The masks were supplied to district administrations, government organizations, police and military forces.
VC also announced that a major chunk of youth resides in urban areas and the board is contemplating to start the J&K Urban Employment Generation Programme (JKUEGP) to reach out to them.
