12-Aug-2022: Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Dr. Virendra Kumar launched today “SMILE-75 Initiative”.

In the spirit of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India, has identified 75 Municipal Corporations to implement comprehensive rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of begging under “SMILE: Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise” named as “SMILE-75 Initiative”.

The “SMILE-75 Initiative” launched today by Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Dr. Virendra Kumar at a Shelter Home (Rain Basera) near Nizamuddin Metro Station in New Delhi. The identified 75 Municipal Corporations, experts from the field of beggary and eminent NGOs will participate in this nationwide launch through online and offline mode.

Under the SMILE-75 initiative, seventy five (75) Municipal Corporations in collaboration with NGOs and other stakeholders will cover several comprehensive welfare measures for persons who are engaged in the act of begging with focus extensively on rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, counselling, awareness, education, skill development, economic linkages and convergence with other Government welfare programmes etc.

The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has allocated a total budget of Rs.100 crore for the SMILE project for coming years till 2025-26.Through this project, the Ministry envisions to develop a support mechanism for holistic rehabilitation of those engaged in the act of begging and build an India where no person is forced to beg in order to survive and fulfill their basic needs.

The objective of SMILE- 75 is to make our cities/town and municipal areas begging-free and make a strategy for comprehensive rehabilitation of the persons engaged in the act of begging through the coordinated action of various stakeholders. The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment understands the important role of Local Urban Bodies, Civil Society Organisations/Non-Government Organisations to address this persisting social issue with concerted efforts.

The Government of India has recognised the persisting problem of destitution and beggary and formulated a comprehensive scheme of SMILE (Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise) which includes a sub-scheme of comprehensive rehabilitation for persons engaged in begging which covers identification, rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, counselling, and education, skill development for decent job and self-employment / entrepreneurship.

3-Aug-2022: Promotion of Entrepreneurship Activities in the Rural areas

590 Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs), promoted by Banks, are functioning across the country extending skill and entrepreneurship development training programmes to rural poor youth to facilitate them to employ themselves by commencing self-employment units/activities. This Ministry is reimbursing cost of training imparted by the RSETIs to the rural poor youth through the State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLMs), besides providing infrastructure grants to the Institutions. Since inception, a total of 41.93 lakh youth have been trained and 29.34 lakh youth have been settled up-to 30th June, 2022.

The Ministry is also implementing Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) as a sub-scheme under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) with the objective to help the rural poor (from SHG eco-system) to set-up enterprises at the village level in non-agricultural sectors. The operational unit of the project is Block. A maximum of 2,400 enterprises can be supported in one Block with the approved funds. The maximum budget for one Block under SVEP is Rs. 650.00 lakhs. A total of 2,08,594 enterprises across 29 States/UTs have been supported so far.

A short study on “Impact of RSETI Training on Repayment Behaviour of Bank Borrowers” was conducted by the National Academy of RUDSETI, Bengaluru in July 2020.The major findings are as follows:

1. 85% of loan proposals received by the Banks from RSETIs are getting sanctioned.
2. Around 95% of loans given to RSETI trainees are regular in repayment.

The mid-term review of the SVEP was done during the year 2018-19 by Quality Council of India (QCI); the key findings are as follows:

1. 82% of entrepreneurs across the blocks reported being from SC, ST and OBC categories.
2. 75% of the enterprises were owned and managed by women.
3. 57% of the total household income is through the enterprises promoted under SVEP.

Under RSETIs, 29.34 lakh youth have been settled, so far. Under SVEP, 2,08,594 enterprises have been set up up-to 30th June, 2022.

6-Aug-2021: 87 Mobilization camps organized by Rural Self Employment Training Institutes across the country as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav

As part of the ‘Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations, Rural Self Employment Training Institutes organized around 87 ‘mobilisation camps’ across the country between 30th July and 5th August, 2021. Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav is a series of events to be organised by the Government of India to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of India’s Independence. The Mahotsav will be celebrated as a Jan-Utsav in the spirit of Jan-Bhagidari throughout the length and breadth of the country.

A total of 87 mobilisation camps were organised across 87 districts in 19 states and 2 UTs. During the mobilisation drives, not only were the participants made aware of the variety of courses they can select from but activities like plantation drives, mask and ration distribution etc. were also weaved in to attract larger numbers.

A total of 37.81 lakh candidates have been trained under RSETIs in 64 courses (59 National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) aligned and 5 MoRD approved) and 26.65 lakh candidates have been settled into self-employment. The programme is currently being implemented in 28 States and 7 UTs with 585 functioning RSETIs sponsored by 23 leading Banks (both public and private sector as well as a few Grameen Banks).

RSETI (Rural Self Employment Training Institutes) programme is a three-way partnership between Ministry of Rural Development, State Governments and Sponsor Banks. The Banks are mandated to open at least one RSETI in their lead district to provide training to rural youth to take up self-employment/ entrepreneurship ventures. RSETI program runs with an approach of short-term training & long-term hand holding of entrepreneurs. Rural poor youth between the age group of 18-45 years  are eligible to join trainings. The RSETIs have become established as pioneers in capturing the aspirations of the rural poor youth and turning them into profitable entrepreneurs by training them in domain and entrepreneurial skills.

Mobilisation camps are an integral component of the programme as these provide ample opportunities to reach out to probable candidates and inform them about the scheme and its provisions. Amongst the activities conducted during such drives, attendees are made to play a number of financial games.

3-Sep-2020: E-Foundation stone laid for National Training Academy for Rural Self Employment Training Institutes in Bengaluru

E-Foundation stone laying ceremony of the new training Institute building of National Academy of RUDSETI (NAR) was held yesterday. The NAR undertakes monitoring, mentoring and capacity building of the Rural Self Employment Training Institutes staff (585 RSETIs are spread across 566 districts of the country), State/UT Rural Livelihood Mission staff and the concerned Bank officials on behalf of the Ministry of Rural Development.

Addressing the participants, Shri Nagendra Nath Sinha, Secretary Rural Development, Government of India, stressed that RSETIs are unique initiative where State Governments, the Union Govt. and the commercial Banks are working together to address the issue of rural poverty. He also mentioned about the importance of RSETI setup in furthering the efforts of mitigating the problem of unemployment in the country. While praising the role of NAR in standardizing the activities of RSETIs, he advised the NAR to accelerate the efforts in this direction and felt that the establishment of new campus of NAR would be a good support in this regard.

At present, these trainings are conducted in rented premises in Bengaluru or different premises in States/UTs. This proposed campus development being undertaken in the beautiful garden city of Bengaluru at the cost of Rs 25 crores will address this major problem of capacity building. The function was graced among others by Padma Vibhushan Dr. D Veerendra Heggade, the President of NAR, and Ms. A Manimekhalai, Executive Director, Canara Bank.

Dr D Veerendra Heggade, the President of NAR complemented the proactive approach of the Government towards adoption of successful RUDSETI model and recalled how this fine replication in the form of RSETIs is shaping the lives of the millions of rural unemployed youth. He acknowledged the great role of the Ministry of Rural Development in ensuring all the Banks in the country accept the RSETI model. This has resulted in establishment of one of the largest network of entrepreneurship development training in the country.

Ms. A Manimekhalai, Executive Director, Canara Bank admired the role of NAR over the years and assured that Canara Bank would support NAR fully in future endeavors also. She whole heartedly thanked the Ministry of Rural Development, Dr Heggade and the RSETI sponsoring Banks and termed NAR as a symbol of unity of all the stakeholders in the RSETI movement.

All the dignitaries joined hands in virtually unveiling the foundation stone marking a new era for the NAR.