PM Vishwakarma Yojana 2023 : Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has officially launched the Central Sector Scheme PM-VISHWAKARMA on 17th September 2023 at New Delhi. The scheme aims to provide recognition and holistic support to the traditional artisans & craftsmen working with their hands and elementary tools, so as to improve the quality, scale and reach of their products and also to integrate them with MSME value chains.
PM Vishwakarma Yojana 2023
The arts and crafts of India are distinct, rich in antiquity, values and conviction. Traditional Artisans and Craftsmen, usually called as ‘Vishwakarmas’, work in an artistic capacity, both creating items with their hands using traditional tools and techniques. The Vishwakarmas are the builders of this country. The PM Vishwakarma Yojana Scheme aims at providing several benefits to the Vishwakarmas, who are either self-employed or intend to setup their own small-scale ventures. The support provided through this Scheme to such beneficiaries will not only contribute to the preservation of cultural practices, generational skills and guru-shishya parampara but will also provide an identity and recognition to them.
PM Vishwakarma Yojana Objectives
PM Vishwakarma is a new scheme and envisages to provide end-to-end holistic support to the traditional artisans and craftspeople in scaling up of their conventional products and services. The objectives of the scheme are as given below:
- 1. To enable the recognition of artisans and craftspeople as Vishwakarma making them eligible to avail all the benefits under the Scheme.
- 2. To provide skill upgradation to hone their skills and make relevant and suitable training opportunities available to them.
- 3. To provide support for better and modern tools to enhance their capability, productivity, and quality of products.
- 4. To provide the intended beneficiaries an easy access to collateral free credit and reduce the cost of credit by providing interest subvention.
- 5. To provide incentives for digital transaction to encourage the digital empowerment of these Vishwakarmas.
- 6. To provide a platform for brand promotion and market linkages to help them access new opportunities for growth.
Vishwakarma Yojana Eligibility Criteria
- An artisan or craftsperson working with hands and tools and engaged in one of the 18 family-based traditional trades mentioned in the scheme, in unorganized sector on self-employment basis, shall be eligible for registration under PM Vishwakarma.
- The minimum age of the beneficiary should be 18 years on the date of registration.
- The beneficiary should be engaged in the concerned trade on the date of registration and should not have availed loans under similar credit-based schemes of Central Government or State Government for self-employment/ business development, e.g. PMEGP, PM SVANidhi, Mudra, in the past 5 years.
- The registration and benefits under the Scheme shall be restricted to one member of the family. For availing benefits under the Scheme, a ‘family’ is defined as consisting of the husband, wife and unmarried children.
- A person in government service and their family members shall not be eligible under the Scheme.
How to Apply for PM Vishwakarma Yojana Scheme 2023 ?
1. The registration shall be done by seeking applications through Common Service Centres (CSCs) or open online application, through Aadhaar based biometric authenticated PM Vishwakarma portal. The portal will have convergence with various Government portals including Skill India Digital through API. A multi-lingual helpline will be available on the portal to ensure that the information is disseminated to everyone across the country without any language barrier.
2. The beneficiary can apply either directly or with the help of the CSCs through Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) or Enumerators.
3. Further, CSCs will provide handholding support to the beneficiaries to assess their key requirements and opt for benefits available under the Scheme. At the time of application, the beneficiaries will be made aware of the Skill Upgradation component of the Scheme.
4. The beneficiary shall furnish his/her Aadhaar- seeded bank account details at the time of application. This shall be considered as the preferred bank account for availing monetary benefits under the Scheme.
5. At every stage of intervention under this Scheme,Aadhaar authentication will be mandatory. Aadhaar authentication will be done through biometric by CSCs.
6. The portal will also provide link for registration under Udyam Assist Portal which is the registration portal for Informal Micro Enterprises which do not have PAN. The applicants who have PAN and wish to be registered on the Udyam Registration Portal for MSMEs, will be so registered.
7. The beneficiaries would be encouraged to onboard on GeM Portal. The Scheme will be widely advertised on GeM Portal. This will provide encouragement and support to the Vishwakarmas in getting access to market. Through GeM Portal, their products will be made available for public procurement.
8. Submission and approval process of application by the beneficiary shall be followed by a three-step verification which, if successfully completed will lead to registration under PM Vishwakarma.
Important Documents To be Submitted
The beneficiary needs to produce documents like Aadhaar, mobile number, bank details, ration card for the registration.
Additional documents or information: The beneficiary may be required to provide additional documents or information as may be prescribed.
- In case of a beneficiary not having a ration card, he/she is required to produce Aadhaar numbers of all family members.
- If a beneficiary does not have a bank account, he/she will be first required to open a bank account for which handholding will be done by CSC.
PM Vishwakarma Scheme Benefits
The PM Vishwakarma Yoagana Scheme offers main benefits to the vishwakarma’s. Some benefits has been listed below.
1. Recognition:
Recognition as Vishwakarma through Certificate and ID Card
2. Skilling:
a. Skill Verification followed by 5-7 days (40 hours) Basic Training
b. Interested candidates can also enroll for 15 days (120 hours) Advanced Training
c. Training Stipend: Rs 500 per day
3. Toolkit Incentive: Rs 15,000 grant
4. Credit Support:
a. Collateral free Enterprise Development Loans: Rs 1 lakh (First Tranche for 18 months repayment) & Rs 2 lakh (Second Tranche for 30 months repayment)
b. Concessional Rate of Interest: 5% to be charged from the beneficiary with Interest Subvention cap of 8% to be paid by MoMSME
c. Credit Guarantee fees to be borne by GoI
5. Incentive for Digital Transaction: Re 1 per transaction for maximum up to 100 transactions (monthly)
6. Marketing Support: National Committee for Marketing (NCM) will provide services such as Quality Certification, Branding & Promotion, E-commerce linkage, Trade Fairs advertising, publicity and other marketing activities.