Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 27: Kerala Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today announced the ‘Athijeevanam Keraliyam’ scheme to be implemented as part of the Chief Minister’s Local Employment Assurance Programme (LEAP). This scheme will provide 50,000 jobs.
Briefing the media, the Chief Minister said, “Kudumbasree will implement this programme to provide employment to 50,000 people this year. An amount of Rs.145 crores is being allotted as part of Rebuild Kerala and Rs. 20.50 crores as plan fund for this project. The project will have five main components.”
- Yuva Kerala Project: The objective of the scheme is to provide skills training and employment to 10,000 youths. The government has sanctioned Rs. 60 crores for this scheme. The beneficiaries will be members of poor families between the ages of 18 and 35. Scheduled Tribes and Differently Abled can join up to the age of 45 years. The plan features 100% free training, free travel, accommodation, meals, uniforms, post-placement support, counselling and tracking for a period of one year.
- Connect to Work(C2W): A programme that aims to develop the soft skills of young people from rural areas, guide them in finding employment and connect them to the job market. The objective of the scheme is to train 5,000 young men and women and connect them with employers to secure employment. Rs. 5 crores have been sanctioned for this project.
- Kerala Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP-K): The main objective of the project is to launch maximum ventures in each selected block area. Under this scheme, 16,800 new ventures will be started in agricultural and non-agricultural areas in 14 flood-affected blocks of the state. The scheme will cover about 20,000 people, both men and women, who will be able to join the scheme. Loans up to a maximum of Rs. 1 lakh for individuals and Rs. 5 lakhs for group ventures will be given at an interest rate is 4%. An amount of Rs. 70 crore has been sanctioned for this programme.
- Acquiring Resilience and Identity Through Sustainable Employment(ARISE): The objective of this scheme is to provide training to the youth and Kudumbasree workers in the ten most sought after sectors of the labour market and to provide wage employment expeditiously. The programme was launched in 2018-19 for those who lost their livelihoods due to floods in the state. During the financial year 2020-21, 10,000 young women and men will be provided employment under this scheme. An amount of Rs. 10 crores has been sanctioned for this project.
- Kudumbasree Micro Enterprise Development Programme (KMEDP): Under this scheme, 3,000 individual enterprises and 2,000 group enterprises will be started. Kudumbasree members and their families will be given support to start ventures under this scheme. About 10,000 people will benefit from the scheme. Under this scheme, individual entrepreneurs can undertake projects up to a maximum of Rs. 2.50 lakhs and group ventures up to a maximum of Rs. 10 lakhs. Under this scheme, assistance will be given to those who are undergoing skill training and entrepreneurship training through training agencies selected by the Kudumbasree District Missions. Training in this programme is completely free as in other projects.