In the 75th year of India’s Independence, “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” is being celebrated by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. Under this, Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) of the Ministry of Rural Development organized “Udyamita Pakhwara” across the Country from 1st to 15th July, 2022. Secretary (RD) inaugurated the Pakhwara virtually on 1st July, 2022. Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industry, Chairman IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, representatives from State Bank of India and SMDs/CEOs of SRLMs along with their teams participated in the event. The objective of this Udyamita Pakhwara was to highlight the importance of enterprise growth and entrepreneurship development under non-farm livelihoods in rural areas across the country. A series of activities under Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP), One Stop Facility (OSF), Clusters, Incubators, SHG products marketing, PMFME scheme were organised in this duration across the country.
During this period, more than 1,400 awareness camps on enterprise promotion and various schemes related to rural entrepreneurship were organized. 3,512 business plans were prepared by Community Resource Persons – Enterprise Promotion (CRP-EP) under Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) and One Stop Facility (OSF). Further, Rs. 11.91 Crore were dispersed towards the Community Enterprise Fund (CEF) to these enterprises through Community Institutions. DAY-NRLM is also facilitating mobilization of SHG individual beneficiaries and groups for support under PMFME scheme of MoFPI. Accordingly, a total of 6753 applications were submitted to State Nodal Agencies for Seed Capital support under PMFME scheme. Further, during Udyamita Pakhwara, Rs. 10.8 Crore were released to SHGs under PMFME for Seed Capital support. Activities under Clusters and Incubators schemes were also initiated in the States. The focus on capacity building resulted in assessment and certification of 115 master CRP-EPs as per the NSQF norms.
On 15th July, 2022, a concluding workshop was organized by DAY-NRLM under the Chairmanship of Additional Secretary (RL), MoRD. In this workshop SMDs/CEOs of the States/UTs shared their experience of Udyamita Pakhwara. All the States/UTs appreciated this initiative and expressed their keen interest to continue these activities in future also, as these initiatives have generated a groundswell of support for entrepreneurship in the rural areas. Additional Secretary (RL) appreciated the efforts of all the States/UTs in making the initiative a huge success across the Country.