Schemes to encourage cottage industries

Schemes to encourage cottage industries

Small farmers are being encouraged to set up cottage industries to increase their income through the following schemes/programmes:

i. Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP)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 (primarily small farmers) and rural/urban unemployed youth. The major verticals in the cottage industries where the small farmers are setting up micro enterprises under PMEGP are as follows:

• Agro Based & Food Processing Industry 
• Forest Based Industry 
• Handmade Paper and Fibre Industry 

ii. Ministry is implementing Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI). The focus of the scheme is to organize traditional industries and artisans/small farmers into clusters and provide them with sustainable employment by making their products competitive through value addition.

iii. Ministry also implements GramodyogVikasYojana focussing on development of Village based industries. Two major components of the scheme are as follows:

• Honey Mission (Beekeeping Programme): To supplement the income of farmers, Adivasies and unemployed youth of the country, KVIC launched Honey Mission during 2017 – 18 providing farmers with 10 bee boxes with live bee hives
• KumbharSashaktikaran Programme (Mineral Based Industry): Under the programme, for up-liftment of the small farmer/rural potters’ livelihood, skill up-gradation training and new home scale energy efficient equipments like electric pottery wheels, blunger, pug mill, kiln etc. are provided for producing quality products.