Ministry of Rural Development provides loans worth Rs 8.6 Cr to Self-Help Groups to start micro-enterprises
As part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Ministry of Rural Development provided a Community Enterprise Fund (CEF) loan worth Rs 8.60 crore and entrepreneurship training to more than 2,000 Self Help Group (SHG) members to start their micro-enterprises.
The Ministry of Rural Development provided Community Enterprise Fund (CEF) loans worth Rs 8.60 Cr to 2614 Self Help Group (SHG) entrepreneurs as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The loans were given to the entrepreneurs to help them start their micro-enterprises in their villages across 19 states under the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP).
During the celebration of Amrit Mahotsav, various activities were organised under SVEP. These events focused on creating awareness about the SVEP scheme and how it supports SHG members who want to start micro-businesses in rural areas.
These events saw the participation of public representatives, government officials, and community-based organisations in 19 states including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
Members of an SHG in West Bengal create handicrafts to earn a livelihood.
Prior to providing the CEF loan, SHG entrepreneurs were given initial training on entrepreneurship and detailed business plans of their proposed business were prepared.
During these events, SHG entrepreneurs shared their experiences and journey of starting their own enterprises in their villages, becoming entrepreneurs, and talked about the various forms of support that they received under the SVEP. They also emphasised the strength of regular handholding to understand steps to do business, make it successful, and create strong market linkages.
The SVEP is a sub-scheme under National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) to promote enterprises in rural areas. SVEP aims to set up an ecosystem for enterprise development in a block. This consists of a cadre of Community Resource Persons-Enterprise Promotion (CRP-EP) who will provide business support services to entrepreneurs.
The scheme encompasses identifying business ideas, preparing business plans, accessing loans, and other support such as marketing, maintaining accounts, and taking business decisions. Further, the ecosystem also includes training and capacity building of entrepreneurs, seed capital for starting enterprises, marketing support for products and services etc. Besides, the Block Resource Centre (BRC) — the single-point solution for enterprise promotion — is also developed as part of the ecosystem.
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Edited by Kanishk Singh