Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the ‘PM Vishwakarma’ central sector programme. PM had announced the programme in his Independence Day speech on Tuesday. However, the scheme is going on the floor on 17 September 2023, on  Vishwakarma Jayanti.

It will provide 30 lakh artisans and their families with collateral-free loans at subsidized interest rates.

The programme has been allotted a budget of Rs 13,000 crore for a five-year term ending in 2028.

Artisans and craftspeople will receive recognition through PM Vishwakarma certificates, ID cards, and credit support up to Rs 1 lakh (in the first tranche) and Rs 2 lakh (in the second tranche) with a concessional interest rate of 5% under the PM Vishwakarma plan.

The programme will include talent development, toolkit incentives, incentives for digital transactions, and marketing support, according to a statement from the Centre.

It will first include 18 traditional trades. The first category of ‘PM Vishwakarma’ workers includes, carpenters, boat builders, blacksmiths, locksmiths, goldsmiths, potters, sculptors, cobblers, and masons.

More on the Vishwakarma Scheme:

The PM Vishwakarma Scheme seeks to integrate artisans and craftspeople into the domestic and international value chains while also enhancing the quality, scope, and reach of their services and goods. These workers will become more economically empowered as a result, particularly those who come from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Communities, women, transgender people, and other underprivileged groups in society.

While addressing the nation on the 77th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech, had announced a host of schemes for skilled workers, women self-help groups and the urban poor among others.

He also unveiled a brand-new program for women’s self-help organizations to receive drone training for use in the agricultural sector.

In order to assist the urban poor and middle class in owning a home, Modi also mentioned the introduction of a new urban housing programme. “We shall devise a plan for the disadvantaged urban residents without their own homes and middle-class families who aspire to acquire a home in the coming years,” he said. The government will reduce the interest on home loans for families who reside in cities but live in rented dwellings, slums, or unregistered colonies and want to construct their own homes. Assistance worth lakhs of rupees would b e provided under the interest subsidy scheme.