New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday announced that the Centre will launch Vishwakarma Yojana on 17 September with an initial allocation of Rs 13,000-15,000 crore for traditional craftsmen and workers, mainly from the Other Backward Classes (OBC).
“On this Vishwakarma Jayanti, we will launch a Rs 13,000-15000 crore Vishwakarma Yojana for traditional craftsmen and workers, mostly from the OBC community, who work with their tools such as goldsmith, masons, washermen, hair-dresser to empower them,” Modi said in his Independence Day speech.
The announcement is seen as a move by the Modi government to reach out to the OBC community ahead of the elections next year. With opposition parties and OBC groups stepping up the demand for caste census, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has maintained a studied silence on the issue, so far.
The Vishwakarma Yojana aims to empower lakhs of people working in the unorganised sectors facing financial and other challenges in their occupations.
The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSME) will be the nodal ministry for the scheme. “The details of the scheme are being worked out. As of now, 18 trades have been identified that will be covered under the scheme,” a senior official said.
In 2020, the Centre had announced the PM-SVANidhi scheme to provide financial assistance to street vendors, who were badly affected due to the Covid pandemic-induced lockdown.
Speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the PM said, “Though various schemes people have been helped to come out of poverty….Under PM-SVANidhi, Rs 50,000 crore have been given to street vendors.”
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is reaching out to the OBC community by highlighting all the social welfare measures taken by the Modi government. Earlier, the party had said that it introduced reservation for backward classes in educational institutions such as Kendriya Vidhyalayas and gave constitutional status to the OBC commission.
In May, Union home minister Amit Shah had said that the BJP has given due respect to the OBC community and gave the country its first prime minister (Modi) from the OBC community.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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