\r\n With an aim to exchange experiences of the artisans of different district, Khadi and Village Industries Board, organized a state level handicraft exhibition on September 8 at Indoor Stadium, Leh.\r\n

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\r\nChief Guest of the occasion, Dorjey Motup, EC appreciated the Khadi and Village Industries Board for organizing such exhibitions in Leh and said that such initiatives will inspire new entrepreneurs and unemployed youth. \r\n

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\r\nHe urged the unemployed youth to take maximum benefits of the schemes available for establishing their own units for their socio-economic upliftment. \r\n

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\r\nBashir Ahmed, one of the beneficiaries under PMEGP said, “These days getting a government job are more like a dream which cannot be achieved by all. I am very thankful to KVIB, KVIC and DIC through which I got the loan and established my own unit. Today, there are 700 artisans and seven employees working under me. If we take the benefit of this scheme, no one will remain unemployed but the thing is to avail the benefit and be aware of it.”\r\n

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\r\nTashi Namgyal said, “This is for the first time that my products are being displayed in Leh. From last four years, I have been sending my products to Gujarat, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata etc. In 2013, I took loan of ₹5.00 Lakh from KVIC, I sold the horticulture home made products and it is organic certified. I have participated in the exhibition held in different part of India. There is a demand for my product and I am thankful for the KVIC department.”\r\n

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\r\nNumbers of stalls were installed by the different entrepreneurs of KVIB, exhibiting Wood carved products, Kashmiri embroidery suits, shawls, food products, knitting products, pashmina products, carpet, local carpets etc.\r\n

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\r\nVinay Kumar, Director KVIC, J&K informed that last year, they have installed 51 units in Leh and disbursed ₹ 1crore13 Lakh and generated employment for 218 people. But there is a lack of awareness about the scheme and more people should participate.\r\n

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\r\nAnil Kumar, Assistant Director, KVIC talked about the PMEGP programme and said that the scheme is to provide sustainable employment to a large segment of traditional and prospective artisans, rural and urban unemployed youth through setting up of micro enterprises.\r\n

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\r\nHe appeals the stakeholders to help in creating awareness about the scheme so that maximum people could take advantage of it.\r\n

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\r\nPrime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) is a credit linked subsidy programme of Government of India. It has been introduced by merging the two schemes, namely, Prime Minister’s Rojgar Yojana (PMRY) and Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP). The scheme was launched on August 15, 2008.\r\n

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