PEERZADA SAYEED
Kupwara, July 22: In order to review the progress on implementation of PM Vishwakarma scheme, launched to uplift traditional Artisans and Craftspeople, a meeting was held under the Chairpersonship of District Development Commissioner (DDC) Kupwara, Ms. Ayushi Sudan (IAS) here today.
The District Development Commissioner took a firsthand appraisal about the progress made so far with regard to registration of Artisans (Vishwakarmas), verification process, on boarding, capacity building of stakeholders and monitoring & evaluation mechanism in place.
On the occasion, the chair was apprised that as of date, as many as 15610 applications have been received in the District at Gram Panchayat and ULB zone level for registration under Vishwakarma scheme. 10588 applicants have been recommended at Stage -1, 5329 applicants recommended at stage-2, and similarly 4041 applicants have been approved at stage -3.
It was given out in the meeting that Capacity building of 1400 artisans is continuing at different Polytechnic colleges, and NCDC approved centers across the district.
It was revealed in the meeting that 543 applicants/artisans applied for loan and loans in favour of 190 artisans were sanctioned.
The chair also took stock of the different technical issues on PM Vishwakarma Portal and directed the concerned officers to establish communication channels with MSME.
On the occasion, the DDC impressed upon the officers to clear all pendency within a timeline of 10 days to ensure coverage of the artisans.
She asked the Officers of all line Departments to be more practical in successful implementation of the scheme so that the target group is benefitted for their overall socio-economic development.
Pertinent to mention that PM Vishwakarma scheme offers a range of benefits including toolkit incentive of Rs 15,000, training to artisans, Rs 500 per day during training, collateral-free credit support up to Rs 1 lakh (first tranche) and Rs 2 lakh (second tranche) at a concessional interest rate of 5%, incentives for digital transactions and marketing support.
ADDC Kupwara, Gulzar Ahmed Bhat, ACP Kupwara, General Manager DIC, LDM, BDOs, Superintendent ITI Kupwara, CSC Manager and other concerned were present in the meeting.
