The government on Monday said that the Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) scheme is focused on the socio-economic empowerment of six notified minority communities through skill development, support for women entrepreneurs, and education assistance for school dropouts.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju outlined the objectives and early implementation details of the scheme.
According to the Ministry of Minority Affairs, PM VIKAS aims to strengthen the capacity of minority youth by providing skill training in need-based courses and linking them with employment or self-employment avenues. The scheme also seeks to preserve and promote traditional arts, crafts and other elements of intangible cultural heritage through documentation and public visibility efforts.
A key component of the programme is support for women from minority communities through leadership and entrepreneurship training intended to improve their financial independence and participation in economic activity.
The Ministry has mandated that implementing agencies ensure job placements for beneficiaries. For modern, non-traditional skilling courses, project implementing agencies must place at least 75 per cent of trained candidates in employment, including self-employment or apprenticeships, with a minimum of 50 per cent in the organised sector, as defined under the National Skill Qualification Framework and Common Cost Norms.
As per scheme guidelines, 3 per cent of all seats across components are reserved for persons with disabilities.
The programme has recently been rolled out, and allocation letters have been issued for training about 1.40 lakh beneficiaries. A component-wise and sector-wise breakup of the target has been circulated to implementing agencies.
