PIB Summary- 18th February, 2022 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

SEED Scheme

Why in News?

The Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched the Scheme for Economic Empowerment of De-notified, Nomadic, and Semi Nomadic Communities (SEED).

De-notified Tribes

• The term ‘De-notified Tribes’ stands for all those communities which were once notified under the Criminal Tribes Acts, enforced by the British Raj between 187l and 1947.
• These Acts were repealed by the Independent lndian Government in l952, and these communities were “De-Notified”.
• A few of these communities which were listed as de-notified were also nomadic.
• The Renke Commission (2008) was earlier commissioned to identify and list the DNT communities.

SEED Scheme

• Under the scheme, the government seeks to provide free coaching to students for civil services examinations, competitive exams for admission to professional courses; health insurance; livelihood support and housing.
• It has been formulated for families having income from all sources of Rs.2.50 lakh or less per annum and not availing any such benefits from similar Scheme of Centre Government or the State Government.
• The Scheme will be implemented through a portal, developed by the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment.
• The portal will create a permanent database and can be retrieved whenever the applicant desires to enroll for new component.
• The funds will be transferred directly to the beneficiaries in their account.
• The other implementing agencies are Ministry of Rural Development, National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and National Health Authority (NHA).

Components of the scheme

• To provide coaching of good quality for DNT/NT/SNT candidates to enable them to appear in competitive examinations.
• To provide health insurance to DNT/NT/SNT Communities.
• To facilitate livelihoods initiative at community level to build and strengthen small clusters of DNT/NT/SNT Communities institutions.
• To provide financial assistance for construction of houses to members of the DNT/NT/SNT Communities.

Prime Minister Employment Generation Program (PMEGP)

Prime Minister Employment Generation Program (PMEGP)

• The Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) the result of the merger of two schemes – Prime Minister’s Rojgar Yojana (PMRY) and The Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP).
• PMEGP is a credit-linked subsidy scheme which promotes self-employment through setting up of micro-enterprises, where subsidy up to 35% is provided by the Government through Ministry of MSME for loans up to ₹25 lakhs in manufacturing and ₹10 lakhs in the service sector.
• PMEGP was established for generation of employment opportunities through establishment of micro enterprises in rural as well as urban areas.
• PMEGP is a central sector scheme administered by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MoMSME).
• At the national level, the Scheme is being implemented by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), a statutory organization under the administrative control of the Ministry of MSME as the single nodal agency.
• At the State level, the Scheme will be implemented through State KVIC Directorates, State Khadi and Village Industries Boards (KVIBs) and District Industries Centres (DICs) and banks.

Objectives of PMEGP

• To generate continuous and sustainable employment opportunities in Rural and Urban areas of the country
• To provide continuous and sustainable employment to a large segment of traditional and prospective artisans, rural and urban unemployed youth in the country through setting up of micro enterprises.
• To facilitate participation of financial institutions for higher credit flow to micro sector.

Eligibility to avail this scheme:

• Individuals above 18 years of age
• VIII Std. pass required for project above Rs.10.00 lakhs in manufacturing and above Rs. 5.00 lakhs for Service Sector
• Self Help Groups and Charitable Trusts
• Institutions Registered under Societies Registration Act- 1860
• Production based Co-operative Societies