Introduction
PM Vishwakarma is a new scheme and envisages to provide end-to-end holistic support to the traditional artisans and craftspeople in scaling up of their conventional products and services. The objectives of the scheme are as given below:
1. To enable the recognition of artisans and craftspeople as Vishwakarma, making them eligible to avail all the benefits under the Scheme.
2. To provide skill upgradation to hone their skills and make relevant and suitable training opportunities available to them.
3. To provide support for better and modern tools to enhance their capability, productivity, and quality of products.
4. To provide the intended beneficiaries easy access to collateral-free credit and reduce the cost of credit by providing interest subvention.
5. To provide incentives for digital transactions to encourage the digital empowerment of these Vishwakarmas.
6. To provide a platform for brand promotion and market linkages to help them access new opportunities for growth.
Eligibility Criteria
1. An artisan or craftsperson working with hands and tools and engaged in one of the 18 family-based traditional trades mentioned in the scheme, in the unorganized sector on a self-employment basis, shall be eligible for registration under PM Vishwakarma.
2. The minimum age of the beneficiary should be 18 years on the date of registration.
3. The beneficiary should be engaged in the concerned trade on the date of registration and should not have availed loans under similar credit-based schemes of the Central Government or State Government for self-employment/business development, e.g., PMEGP, PM SVANidhi, Mudra, in the past 5 years.
4. The registration and benefits under the Scheme shall be restricted to one member of the family. For availing benefits under the Scheme, a ‘family’ is defined as consisting of the husband, wife, and unmarried children.
5. A person in government service and their family members shall not be eligible under the Scheme.