New Delhi, Feb 12 (IANS) Replying to questions on the ‘progress report’ of PM Vishwakarma Yojana, Minister of State (MoS) for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that the public welfare scheme was being rolled out at much faster pace than anticipated, and has even surpassed its own target of registrations under the stipulated period.

The MoS told the House that 30 lakh people have been registered under the scheme, making them eligible to receive welfare benefits, and the programme was running ahead of its target.

“Target was to achieve 30 lakh registrations in 4 years, but we achieved this in just 2 years’ time,” she said, while adding that nearly 5,000 crore was disbursed as loans to the PM Vishwakarma beneficiaries during the period.

The disclosures on scheme’s progress came in response to a question by Laxmikant Bajpayee, Rajya Sabha MP and BJP National Vice-President, who sought information from MoS Karandlaje, with specific reference to Uttar Pradesh.

“How many people were registered under the PM Vishwakarma scheme? How many were trained? How many were distributed loans and toolkits? What is the situation in Uttar Pradesh,” the BJP MP asked.

Replying to this, MoS Karandlaje said, “Thirty lakh people have been registered under the scheme in just two years, against the target of four years. More than 20 lakh people have been trained for the purpose while toolkits have been distributed to about 12 lakh people.”

She also told that loans have been disbursed to about 5.18 lakh beneficiaries while the total loan disbursed till date stands at about Rs 4,470 crore.

“In context of Uttar Pradesh, she informed that a total of 178,081 residents of the state have been registered while toolkits have been distributed to 66,901 people,” the MoS said, giving an account of scheme’s penetration in Uttar Pradesh.

She also added that the PM Vishwakarma scheme is an important step towards economically strengthening traditional artisans, giving them formal recognition, and also making them self-reliant.

The PM Vishwakarma Yojana is a scheme launched by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to provide end-to-end support to artisans and craftspeople, who work with their hands and tools.

They are provided with free credit, skill training, modern tools and also market linkage support.

–IANS

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