The Hindu

Mangalore, Jul 12: The Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana (PMRY), launched on October 2, 1993, will soon make way for Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP). This follows a decision by the Union Government to merge it with the Khadi and Village Industries Scheme (KVIS) from this year.

The Joint Director of the District Industries Centre (DIC), S.G. Hegde, told The Hindu here on Friday that the Union Government was yet to announce guidelines of PMEGP.

Mr. Hegde said the banks sanctioned 712 applications under the yojana referred to them by the DIC, amounting to Rs. 5.69 crore during 2007-08. The banks had released Rs. 4.07 crore to 544 units. They were expected to release funds to a few more units.

The yojana was formulated to provide employment to 10 lakh people by setting up seven lakh micro enterprises by educated unemployed youth. It related to setting up of self-employment ventures through industry, service and business routes. The yojana also sought to associate well-known NGOs in implementing it, especially in selection, training of entrepreneurs and preparation of project profiles.

Noting that the target given for the DIC under the yojana for 2007-08 was 750 beneficiaries, Mr. Hegde said the centre received only 712 applications. Stating that this had been the case in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi district in the past, Mr. Hegde said a major reason for this was people were averse when it came to taking risks. Besides, the subsidy given under the yojana was meagre. Banks could provide up to Rs. 1 lakh for business and service activities and Rs. 2 lakh for a person interested in setting up an industry in 2006-07. This was increased to Rs. 2 lakh and Rs. 5 lakh, respectively, in 2007-08. The subsidy during 2006-07 was Rs. 7,500 and it was enhanced to Rs. 12,500 the next year, he said.