A sustained focus by the government to give support to the people engaged in traditional crafts has resulted birth of a special scheme to integrate with global economy. This focus is driven by the desire to not only support the artisans and craftspeople financially but also to keep the age-old tradition, culture and diverse heritage alive and flourishing through local products, art and crafts.
PM Vishwakarma will be fully funded by the Union Government with an outlay of `13,000 crores. Under the scheme, the Vishwakarmas will be registered free of charge through Common Services Centres using the biometric-based PM Vishwakarma portal. They will be provided recognition through PM Vishwakarma certificate and ID card, skill upgradation involving basic and advanced training, toolkit incentive of `15,000, collateral-free credit support up to `1 lakh (first tranche) and `2 lakh (second tranche) at a concessional interest rate of 5%, incentive for digital transactions and marketing support.
The Scheme aims to strengthen and nurture the Guru-Shishya parampara or family-based practice of traditional skills by Vishwakarmas working with their hands and tools. The prime focus of PM Vishwakarma is to improve the quality as well as the reach of products and services of artisans and craftspeople and to ensure that they are integrated with the domestic and global value chains.
The scheme will provide support to artisans and craftspeople in rural and urban areas across India. Eighteen traditional crafts will be covered under PM Vishwakarma. These include (i) Carpenter; (ii) Boat Maker; (iii) Armourer; (iv) Blacksmith ; (v) Hammer and Tool Kit Maker; (vi) Locksmith; (vii) Goldsmith; (viii) Potter; (ix) Sculptor, Stone breaker; (x) Cobbler (Shoesmith/Footwear artisan); (xi) Mason (Rajmistri); (xii) Basket/Mat/Broom Maker/Coir Weaver; (xiii) Doll & Toy Maker (Traditional); (xiv) Barber; (xv) Garland maker; (xvi) Washerman; (xvii) Tailor; and (xviii) Fishing Net Maker.
The Scheme envisages provisioning of the following benefits to the artisans and crafts persons:
(i) Recognition: Recognition of artisans and craftspeople through PM Vishwakarma certificate and ID card.
(ii) Skill Upgradation: Basic Training of 5-7 days and Advanced Training of 15 days or more, with a stipend of ` 500 per day;
(iii) Toolkit Incentive: A toolkit incentive of upto ` 15,000 in the form of e-vouchers at the beginning of Basic Skill Training.
(iv) Credit Support: Collateral free ‘Enterprise Development Loans’ of upto ` 3 lakh in two tranches of ` 1 lakh and ` 2 lakh with tenures of 18 months and 30 months, respectively, at a concessional rate of interest fixed at 5%, with Government of India subvention to the extent of 8%. Beneficiaries who have completed Basic Training will be eligible to avail the first tranche of credit support of upto ` 1 lakh. The second loan tranche will be available to beneficiaries who have availed the 1st tranche and maintained a standard loan account and have adopted digital transactions in their business or have undergone Advanced Training.
(v) Incentive for Digital Transaction: An amount of Re. 1 per digital transaction, upto maximum 100 transactions monthly will be credited to the beneficiary’s account for each digital pay-out or receipt.
(vi) Marketing Support: Marketing support will be provided to the artisans and craftspeople in the form of quality certification, branding, onboarding on e-commerce platforms such as GeM, advertising, publicity and other marketing activities to improve linkage to value chain.
In addition to the above-mentioned benefits, the Scheme will onboard the beneficiaries on Udyam Assist Platform as ‘entrepreneurs’ in the formal MSME ecosystem.
Enrolment of beneficiaries shall be done through Common Service Centres with Aadhaar-based biometric authentication on PM Vishwakarma portal. The enrolment of beneficiaries will be followed by a three-step verification which will include (i) Verification at Gram Panchayat/ ULB level, (ii) Vetting and Recommendation by the District Implementation Committee (iii) Approval by the Screening Committee.