Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has given 200 bee boxes, 100 electric potter wheels and 50 Agarbatti making machines to the rural artisans of Bundelkhand to make them self-employed and self-reliant. Minister of State for MSME, Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma distributed the implements at an event in Jhansi. The implements will create cumulative employment for over 600 local persons. An awareness programme on Central Government’s flagship Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Program (PMEGP) was also inaugurated on the occasion.
KVIC has also provided training to the beneficiaries of the programme for carrying out activities at their doorsteps. Chairman KVIC Vinai Saxena said these schemes of KVIC are aimed at empowering the poorest of the poor people. He said the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh is a focus area of KVIC where many schemes have been implemented to create self-employment for the farmers, unemployed youth and women. Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma said that the government is committed to expediting job creation by implementing flagship programs like PMEGP, Honey Mission and Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana in Bundelkhand.
During the last three years, KVIC has empowered over 300 potters’ families in the Bundelkhand region, creating livelihood for nearly 1,200 persons of the community. It has also given a big thrust to the PMEGP scheme by setting up nearly 11,000 new manufacturing units in the region and thereby, creating 8800 direct jobs. To support these projects, KVIC also disbursed a subsidy amount of Rs.75 crore. In addition, 16 Khadi institutions are currently working in the region that is engaged in spinning and weaving activities mainly by women artisans.