Amid the unemployment crisis in the nation, over 5.87 lakh jobs created in 2019 under PMEGP. The government have surpassed their target of job creation in the last fiscal.
Increase in Jobs under PMEGP
Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, highlighted the boost in employment since the launch of PMEGP. He said that the government has succeeded in creating 5,87,416 employment opportunities by providing margin money subsidy of Rs. 2070 crore. Besides, this is the maximum number of jobs created among all the schemes.
The sum was allocated to 73,427 projects during 2018-19 to promote self-employment in the non-agriculture sector by establishing micro-enterprises. Further, he presented state-wise details of employment generation and the target set. Jammu and Kashmir made it to the top of the list by creating 60,232 job opportunities. Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh had 45,136 and 41,944 new jobs respectively. Also, Minister of State for Labour and Employment stated that total job opportunities created in FY19 were more than 8 lakh.
Employment Increase Under Other Schemes
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme also succeeded in generating 268 crore Person days in FY 2019. Citing the improvement, FM allocated Rs 61,500 crore for MGNREGS for 2020-21. However, this allocation is 13% less than the previous year’s allocation of Rs 71,001.81 crore. Besides, DAY-NULM generated around 1.63 lakh jobs. Also, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) created 1.36 lakh jobs in 2019.
Improvement of Traditional Industries
Further, Gadkari mentioned that the ministry approved 154 clusters for 2018-20 under Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries. This move was in the direction to promote traditional industries and Artisans. Further, Khadi and Village Industries Commission has alone set up around 2,67,226 new projects in the last five years.
Other Efforts
The minister highlighted the government’s efforts to boost traditional industries to increase the marketability of traditional products. Further, he spoke about soft and hard interventions under SFURTI to provide sustained employment. Also, other schemes like Mission Solar Charkha and Tool Rooms and Technology Centers have done commendable jobs in generating employment. Besides, as per RBI’s report, the bank credit to MSMEs have increased in the last three years.
In all, the government is making efforts to improve employment opportunities in the country.