Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said MSME entrepreneurs and handicrafts artisans are getting global recognition for their work which reflects the commitment of the government. With an aim to transform the lives of youths by making them self-reliant, he also disbursed Rs 16,000 crore to 1.90 lakh handicraftsmen, artisans, and small entrepreneurs under the employment initiative of the BJP-led UP government.
The beneficiaries were from various schemes including, Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme, Chief Minister’s Youth Self Employment Scheme, and the ‘One District One Product’ scheme (ODOP). Moreover, he also launched an annual loan scheme of Rs 2.35 lakh crore for 2022-23.
“With the government’s encouragement and the positive support from the bankers, the MSMEs flourished and as a result of this, the government brought down the unemployment rate from 18 percent to 2.9 percent in the state,” he said at the MSME Loan Fair.
He also inaugurated common facilitation centers in Agra, Ambedkar Nagar, Sitapur, Azamgarh, and Siddharth Nagar districts for branding, packaging, marketing, etc. of ODOP products. The Chief Minister interacted with the operators these centers and discussed its functioning and future action plan.
The Chief Minister also inaugurated the Amazon Digital Center, a unit to help small businessmen in setting up their business in the digital world, in Kanpur Nagar district. An MoU was signed between the Uttar Pradesh government and e-commerce company Amazon.
Speaking at the event held in Lucknow, Adityanath said that the area was neglected prior to 2017. “MSMEs had completely died before 2017. Uttar Pradesh had the highest level of unemployment. In 2017, we made an action plan for One District One Product. Now products worth Rs 1.56 lakh crore are being exported,” he said.
Stating that the situation was quite challenging when the BJP formed government in the state, he said, “There was no scarcity of funds or lack of support by central government. Rather, the previous governments were lacking will power.”
“There was no main source of employment other than agriculture before 2017. In addition, the condition of agriculture was so bad that more than 200 blocks were declared dark zones, without any irrigation facility. The schemes of Central government were not implemented in the state,” he said, adding that his government worked towards strengthening the agriculture sector and also improved the industrial environment in 2017.
Talking about the ODOP scheme, which was started in 2018, he said, “We always believed that this scheme would give new life to our traditional craftsmen as well as increase the exports of the state. I am happy to inform you that Uttar Pradesh whose export was merely Rs 80,000 crores annually, has reached Rs 1.60 lakh crore.”
The CM also said that Uttar Pradesh was the first state that organized a loan fair with the inspiration of the Prime Minister during the pandemic period. As a result of continuous efforts, the CD Ratio has increased from 46 per cent to 53 per cent today.
Speaking about the annual loan scheme for the year 2022-23, the CM appealed to the bankers that they should aim to increase the CD ratio from 53 per cent to 55 per cent and take it to 60 per cent in the next five years. Loan borrowers should be linked to digital banking.
“Our handicrafts/artisans will also have a capital guarantee. We are going to prepare such a plan that if any special situation arises, then the government will be the support for the artisan,” he said.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the CM said that the youth in the state should focus on creating job opportunities rather than running after jobs.
He also said that the government is soon going to issue a family card to connect at least one member of every family with employment/self-employment.
The CM also asked to make people aware of the schemes of the government so that maximum youth can get the benefit. “Many eligible people are not aware of the schemes of the government. The educational/training institutions keep a neutral attitude in this regard. It should be mandatory for them to connect with the public welfare schemes of the central and state governments. Banks should also have such a system to inform the youth about the scheme of their interest. If only these two organisations can do this work, then the youth will be benefited greatly,” he said.
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