2-Oct-2022: PM’s Scheme for Mentoring Young Authors – YUVA 2.0 – Launched

The Ministry of Education, Department of Higher Education, today launched YUVA 2.0 - Prime Minister’s Scheme for Mentoring Young Authors, an Author Mentorship programme to train young and budding authors (below 30 years of age) in order to promote reading, writing and book culture in the country, and project India and Indian writings globally. In view of the significant impact of the first edition of YUVA with large scale participation from young and budding authors in 22 different Indian languages and English, YUVA 2.0 is now being launched.

The launch of YUVA 2.0 (Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors) is in tune with the Prime Minister’s vision to encourage the youth to understand and appreciate India's democracy. YUVA 2.0 is a part of India@75 Project (Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav) to bring to the fore the perspectives of the young generation of writers on the THEME : ‘Democracy (institutions, events, people, constitutional values – past, present, future)’ in an innovative and creative manner. This scheme will thus help to develop a stream of writers who can write on a spectrum of subjects to promote Indian heritage, culture and knowledge system.

NEP 2020 has emphasized on the empowerment of the young minds and creating a learning ecosystem that can make the young readers/learners ready for leadership roles in the future world. India tops the chart in youth population being 66% of the total, waiting to be tapped for capacity building and thereby nation building. With the purpose of mentoring a new generation of young creative writers, there is an imminent requirement to take initiatives at highest level, and in this context, YUVA 2.0 will    go a long way in laying the foundation of the future leaders of the creative world.

The National Book Trust, India, under the Ministry of Education as the Implementing Agency will ensure phase-wise execution of the Scheme under well-defined stages of mentorship. The books prepared under this scheme will be published by National Book Trust, India, and will also be translated into other Indian languages ensuring the exchange of culture and literature, thereby promoting 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat'. The selected young authors will interact with some of the best authors of the world, participate in literary festivals etc.

The scheme will help to develop a stream of writers who can write on various facets of Democracy in India encompassing the past, present and future. Besides, it will also provide a window to the aspiring youth to articulate themselves and present a comprehensive outlook of Indian Democratic values at domestic as well as international platforms. This scheme has been conceptualized on the premise that the 21st century India needs to groom a generation of young authors to create ambassadors of Indian literature. In view of the fact that our country is ranked third in the arena of book publishing and we have a treasure trove of indigenous literature, India must project it at the global stage.

The Schedule of YUVA 2.0 (Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors) is as follows:

• Announcement of the Scheme 2 October 2022.
• A total of 75 authors will be selected through an All India Contest to be conducted through https://www.mygov.in/ from 2 October 2022 - 30 November 2022.
• The received proposals would be evaluated from 1 December 2022 – 31 January 2023.
• The winners will be announced on 28 February 2023.
• The young authors will be trained by eminent authors/mentors from 1 March 2023 – 31 August 2023.
• Under the mentorship, the first set of published books will be launched on 2 October 2023.

30-Mar-2022: Salient features of PM-YUVA Scheme

Pradhan Mantri – Mentorships' Scheme for Young writers (PM-YUVA) has been launched by the Ministry of Education on 29 May 2021 for young writers up to the age of 30 years. The salient features of the scheme are as follows:

1. A contest was organized to select seventy-five young authors. The theme of the contest was ‘National Movement of India’ with ‘Unsung Heroes’, “Role of Unknown Places in Freedom Movement’ etc as focus areas.
2. The contestants were asked to submit a manuscript of 5000 words to judge their suitability to develop as a proper book under the mentorship scheme.
3. Proposals were invited in all twenty-two scheduled languages and English
4. The selection was made by a committee constituted by National Book Trust (NBT).
5. The results were announced on 25.12.2021.
6. Mentors have been assigned to guide and develop the selected proposals into full-fledged books.
7. A consolidated scholarship of Rs. 50,000 per month for a period of six months per author is to be paid under the mentorship scheme.
8. 10% royalty to be paid by NBT on publication and sale of the books.

It has been decided that the books selected under the PM-YUVA Scheme are translated into different Indian languages to ensure the exchange of Indian culture and literature in order to promote `Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’.

25-Dec-2021: National Book Trust announces of 75 Selected Authors under the PM- YUVA Mentorship Scheme

National Book Trust, India, under Ministry of Education, today announced the results of the All-India Contest organized on the Theme ‘National Movement of India’ under the PM-YUVA Mentorship Scheme as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav programmes. As per the Scheme, 75 Authors were to be selected through this contest for a Scholarship-cum-Mentorship Scheme for the young authors below the age of 30 years.

The All-India Contest was organized from 1st June-31st July 2021 through MyGov and National Book Trust, India platforms. Nearly 16000 entries in 22 Official languages and English were received from all across the country including some from Indian Diaspora Community. All the book proposals were read by multiple panels of experts and went through three layers of scrutiny.

It may be recalled that during his Mann Ki Baat address dated 31st January 2021, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had stated: “I call upon our young friends to write about our freedom fighters, events associated with them & tales of valour during freedom struggle from their areas.” Thereafter the PM-YUVA Mentorship Scheme for young authors was launched by the Ministry of Education, Government of India with National Book Trust, India as the Implementing Agency.

Out of the 75 selected authors, 38 are males and 37 are females. Further, two are below 15 years, whereas there are 16 authors in the age-group of 15-20 years, 32 fall in the age group of 21-25 years and 25 authors are in the age group of 26-30 years.

The selected authors will undergo six-months of Mentorship in which they would be provided research and editorial support under the guidance of eminent authors and the Editorial Team of National Book Trust, India to develop their book proposals as full-fledged books to be published by the Trust as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav initiatives. Their published books will be later translated into other Indian languages as well.

During mentorship, the selected authors will receive a scholarship of ₹50,000 per month for a period of six months. Further, a royalty of 10% will be payable to the authors on successful publications of their books.

3-Dec-2021: Promotion of Women Entrepreneurship

Pradhan Mantri YUVA (PM YUVA) Yojana implemented by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has been a pilot scheme for creating an enabling ecosystem through entrepreneurship education, training, advocacy and easy access to entrepreneurship network. The State of West Bengal has been covered under the scheme.

The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) is implementing the following schemes for promoting entrepreneurship among Women:

1. ‘Skill Upgradation & Mahila Coir Yojana’ under Coir Vikas Yojana, which is as an exclusive training programme aimed at skill development of women artisans engaged in the coir industry. Two months training in coir spinning is imparted through this programme. The candidates who undergo this training are given a stipend of Rs. 3000/- per month. The trained artisans under the scheme are encouraged to avail assistance through Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) scheme to set up coir units.
2. Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), which is a major credit-linked subsidy programme aimed at generating self-employment opportunities through establishment of micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector by helping traditional artisans and rural/ urban unemployed youth. For beneficiaries belonging to special categories such as Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/ OBC / minorities/ women, ex-serviceman, physically handicapped, North Eastern Region (NER), Hill and Border areas, etc., higher subsidy is given.
3. Under the Public Procurement Policy, all Central Ministries/ Departments/ Public Sector Undertakings are mandated to procure at least 3% of their annual procurement from women owned micro & small enterprises.
4. The Government also implements several other schemes for promotion and development of MSMEs, including women owned MSMEs, namely, Micro and Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP), Tool Rooms & Technology Centres, Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI), A Scheme for Promotion of Innovation, Rural Industry and Entrepreneurship (ASPIRE), Procurement and marketing Support Scheme, Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programme (ESDP), Credit Linked Capital Subsidy and Technology Upgradation Scheme (CLCS-TUS) etc. Increased incentives/subsidy is provided to women entrepreneurs participating in Trade Fairs.

In addition, to encourage women entrepreneurship in the country, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Germany has launched a pilot project, ‘Economic Empowerment of Women Entrepreneurs and Startups by Women’ to support aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs. The project pilots incubation and acceleration programmes for women micro entrepreneurs to start new businesses and scale up existing enterprises in Rajasthan, Telangana, Maharashtra., Uttar Pradesh and North Eastern Region.

Apart from above, in order to enhance the employability of female workers, the Government is providing training to them through a network of Women Industrial Training Institutes, National Vocational Training Institutes and Regional Vocational Training Institutes. To ensure economic independence of women through skill development and vocational training, the Government has also introduced Skill India Mission. The National Skill Development Policy focuses on inclusive skill development, with the objective of increased women participation for better economic productivity. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Kendras lay emphasis on creating additional infrastructure, both for training and apprenticeship, for women; flexible training delivery mechanisms, flexible afternoon batches on local need-based training to accommodate women; and ensuring safe and gender sensitive training environment, employment of women trainers, equity in remuneration, and complaint redressal mechanism. Moreover, there are schemes like Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana and Stand Up India, majority of beneficiaries of which are women.

20-Mar-2020: Development of Entrepreneurship in the Country

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is implementing a pilot scheme, Pradhan Mantri Yuva Udyaimta Vikas Abhiyaan (PM YUVA) towards creating an enabling ecosystem through entrepreneurship education, training, advocacy and easy access to entrepreneurship network. The scheme focuses on students/trainees and alumni coming out from skilling ecosystem {i.e. Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), Polytechnics, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKKs) and Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSS)}. The scheme covers 10 States and 2 Union Territories {viz. i.e. Uttar Pradesh (6 districts), Uttarakhand (4 districts), Bihar (10 districts), West Bengal (12 districts), Assam (11 districts), Meghalaya (2 districts), Maharashtra (5 districts), Tamil Nadu (17 districts), Telangana (8 districts), Kerala (4 districts), Delhi (1 district) and Puducherry (1 district)}. The scheme envisages creation of 600 new and 1000 scale-up enterprises. 

Further, with an aim to promote a culture of entrepreneurship among India’s youth and inspire them to set-up their own enterprises and create employment opportunities for others, a National Entrepreneurship Awards Scheme (NEAS) has been instituted in 2016. Under the scheme, awards are conferred to aspiring first generation entrepreneurs including women and those individuals/ organizations who are working as eco-system builder in the field of entrepreneurship development. The awards also seek to highlight model of excellence for others to emulate and improve upon.

Besides,  Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (Germany) has launched a pilot project called ‘Economic Empowerment of Women Entrepreneurs and Start-ups by Women’ to support aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs in India. Presently, this pilot project is being implemented in the North Eastern Region (Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur), Rajasthan and Telangana where 147 women have been given incubation and acceleration support as part of its first cohorts.

In addition, the Government is providing financial assistance in form of loan to entrepreneurs under various schemes viz Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency or MUDRA and Stand Up India Scheme implemented by Department of Financial Services (Ministry of Finance), Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme implemented through Ministry of Rural Development and Rashtriya Mahila Kosh(exclusively for women) implemented through Ministry of Women and Child Development.

23-Feb-2017: 15 lakh youth to get online and experiential learning on Entrepreneurship Education.

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (SDE) and Wadhwani Operating Foundation (WOF) signed here today two Agreements for effectuating an earlier understanding of jointly developing and implementing Entrepreneurship and Skill Development initiatives in the country with the Pradhan Mantri YUVA Scheme being the first joint effort in this regard.
 

Pradhan Mantri YUVA Scheme launched by the Ministry during November, 2016 aims at providing on line Entrepreneurship Education to about 15 lakh students across the country through 3050 Project Institutes consisting of Institutions of Higher Learning; Schools; ITIs and Entrepreneurship Development Centres, both Government and Private. The on-line Entrepreneurship Modules will be duly supplemented by the class room based experiential learning activities and practicums which will be facilitated by specially trained Faculty of the educational institutions. The Ministry would also provide financial assistance to these institutions for different activities under the Scheme. The total scheme outlay is Rs.450 crores.

The five-year Scheme is expected to witness setting up of more than 23,000 enterprises thus resulting into creation of more than 2.30 lakh direct and indirect jobs in the country. The Scheme also envisages delivery of specially developed Social Entrepreneurship Modules to interested students in Institutions of Higher Learning. The WOF, in capacity of Knowledge Partner is contributing, free of cost, Software, Content and Intangibles such as faculty and field staff training and program consulting services under the Scheme.