Pradhan Mantri Virasat ka Samvardhan

The Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) seeks to facilitate opportunities for minority communities in education, skilling, and employment to ensure their inclusive development in the national fabric.

MoMA has designed an integrated scheme, called the Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS), combining five (5) existing schemes of MoMA viz. Seekho aur Kamao, USTTAD, Hamari Dharohar, Nai Roshni and Nai Manzil.

PM VIKAS is aligned to the 15th Finance Commission cycle period up to 2025-26 and is a Central sector (CS) scheme under the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

Scheme Objectives 

• To build capacity of minority and artisan communities through targeted interventions by providing skill training support in need-based courses and ensuring employment / livelihood opportunities for them. 
• To preserve and promote the cultural heritage of traditional art and craft forms including propagation of literature/ documents/ manuscripts.
• To provide formal education and certification up to 8th, 10th, and 12th through open schooling to school dropouts of families of minority and artisan communities.
• To empower women from families of minority and artisan communities and instil confidence amongst them by providing leadership, and entrepreneurship support. 
• To improve employability of and generate better livelihood opportunities for minorities and artisan communities through market and credit linkages and bring them to mainstream.
• To develop model and sustainable art and craft villages, generating livelihood and employment / entrepreneurship opportunities for minorities and artisan communities.

Scheme components

1. Component 1 : Skilling and Training Component
   • Traditional Training sub-component (earlier known as USTTAD and Hamari Dharohar) primarily covers training in need-based courses for minority artisan communities and their family members who are engaged in traditional arts and crafts including languishing art forms. The objectiveis to generate means to create better livelihood opportunities, assist in establishing linkages with domestic and global markets, facilitate credit linkages and self-employment, as well as to preserve and enrich heritage of Indian arts and crafts.
   • Non-traditional Skilling sub-component (earlier known as Seekho aur Kamao) would seek to impart skill training, particularly to minorities and artisan families, in NSQF compliant job roles in sectors having linkages with arts and crafts, job roles complementing their existing work, and establish employment linkages for them.
2. Component 2 : Leadership and Entrepreneurship Component (earlier Nai Roshni)
   • This component seeks to promote leadership development and basic entrepreneurship primarily among youth from minority communities and artisan families through focused modules. The Entrepreneurship sub-component within this component, aims to exclusively handhold women trained in leadership and basic entrepreneurship on an intensive entrepreneurship training. Further, it intends to select aspiring women entrepreneurs, from amongst those trained, to become Business Mentors (to be known as ‘Biz Sakhis’ in the scheme) and promote establishment of individual or group enterprises for the same.
3. Component 3 : Education Component (earlier Nai Manzil)
   This component aims to provide education bridge program to school dropouts from minority and artisan communities for pursuing open schooling in class 8th, 10th, and 12th and provide them certification through National Institute of Open School (NIOS) or any other institution(s) approved by MoMA.
4. Component 4 : Infrastructure Development Component (through Hub and Spoke Villages)
   The essential approach of scheme implementation is convergence with other Ministries and effective utilization of the infrastructure already created. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) scheme of MoMA would also be dovetailed wherever required for infrastructure development under PM VIKAS, as per the guidelines of PMJVK. A ‘Hub and Spoke’ model shall be leveraged wherein Art and Craft Villages known as ‘Vishwakarma Villages’ (also referred to as ‘Hubs’) shall be developed. The Vishwakarma Villages shall be model villages embodying,  showcasing, and promoting the local artistic fervour and flavour by building synergy of arts with tourism and commerce thereby, enhancing their incomes by providing increased trade opportunities. These villages shall strive to provide artisans with a unique and dignified cultural identity. Each hub shall facilitate outreach of benefits under the PM VIKAS scheme to Spoke villages. Vishwakarma Villages are envisioned to facilitate an interplay between trade, tradition, heritage, and tourism aimed at
   preserving, re-building, and sustaining the creativity and culture of the artisan clusters. 

Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs)

The eligibility criteria for PIAs in the scheme is given below.

• Any institution of central/ state governments including Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) or training institutes of central/ state governments, or
• Societies registered under the Societies Registration Act, or
• Trusts registered under the Indian Trusts Act, or
• Any registered entity under the Indian Companies Act 2013 or the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2008, or
• Any registered association of industries / industry bodies.
• Should have been incorporated for at least three (3) years.
• Should be registered on the NITI Aayog’s NGO Darpan Portal (except for entities mentioned in point 1)
• Should have experience in promotion of art and craft, culture, tourism along with a good community connect and experience in conducting social
  welfare programmes at grass root level, particularly for artisan communities, minorities, and women. Any specific contribution made towards Geographical Indication (GI) tagging, and/or initiatives pertaining to art and craft, should be clearly mentioned.
• Should have a minimum turnover of Rs 3 crores in last 3 financial years.
• Should not have been blacklisted by MoMA or any other central / state government department/ Ministry and should have performed satisfactorily
  in previous projects allocated by MoMA (wherever applicable)
• All applicants should have experience in conducting skill development/ livelihood/ education/ entrepreneurship programmes for at least 3 years
  with established industry and community connects, good placement record, experience in facilitating market linkages, entrepreneurship support, and fulfilling any other criteria laid down by MoMA from time to time. Applicants should be willing to provide documentary evidence to support the eligibility criteria specified by MoMA and/or any other supporting document(s) required for verifying the background, experience, etc. as may be prescribed by MoMA.

To access the complete scheme guidelines, click here.

Source : Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA)