Investments and employment generation under the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) has increased three times as compared to the financial year 2017-18, giving a fillip to the Yogi Adityanath government’s initiative to open doors of opportunities for the youth.
The Khadi and Village Industries Board set up 1,677 units under the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) with a capital investment of Rs 203.48 crore in the year 2017-18 giving employment to 16,710 people. More than 5058 khadi and village industry units were established in Uttar Pradesh in the year 2021-22 through which employment was generated for as many as 49,000 people in the state.
“Thus, there is a three-fold increase in employment generation and investment,” a government spokesman said here on Friday.
Additional Chief Secretary (MSME) Navneet Sehgal said that in the financial year 2021-22, a margin money target of Rs 110.26 crore was set against which Rs 162.04 crore was paid by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission.
The beneficiaries of Uttar Pradesh have received an additional amount of about Rs 52.04 crore through KVIC, he added.
“The Uttar Pradesh government has always kept the development of the rural economy as one of its priorities. Therefore, many significant steps have been taken to uplift the khadi and village industries in the state,” he said.
Under the scheme, a large number of service sector and food and agro-based industries have been established. More than 50 per cent units have been set up by Other Backward Class entrepreneurs, indicating that this section of society is more conscious about the establishment of enterprises.
According to the MSME department, in the last financial year, 2,708 units were set up by OBCs, 593 units by Scheduled Castes, 14 units by Scheduled Tribes, eight units by ex-Servicemen and 27 units by Divyangs. Similarly, 289 units have been established by minorities and 1,454 by general category people.