Amid the Corona Pandemic, there's good news for unemployed or who lost their jobs and livelihood due to the ongoing crisis across the globe. According to reports, the Mamata Banerjee government has recently launched a new scheme under which unemployed people will be given soft loans up to Rs 2 lakh and incentives to start a manufacturing unit or trade. Moreover, the Karmasathi Prakalpa scheme is for unemployed people aged between 18 and 50 years.
A Soft loan up to 2 Lakh under Karmasathi Prakalpa scheme
According to the scheme, which was notified about a week ago, the government would ensure a soft loan of up to Rs 2 lakh from state cooperative banks to support an unemployed person.
According to bank, it would provide 80 per cent of the project cost as loans with a maximum cap of Rs 2 lakh. The state government would give a subsidy of 15 per cent of the project cost and the beneficiary has to invest only 5 per cent of the project cost,” said a senior government official.
The government would also reimburse 50 per cent of the annual bank interest for a period of three years if the applicant repays bank interests on time. They had a target of disbursing loans to 1 lakh applicants every year, said State government officials.
How to Avail the Scheme for the Unemployed?
The process has been made easy for the unemployed. They can submit their detailed project reports to the offices of BDOs and SDOs, who will clear the projects if found feasible. Once cleared, the projects would be sent directly to the cooperative banks, which would start the process of disbursing loans at the earliest,” said a source.
Senior government officials said the primary objective of the scheme was to create employment opportunities in the state.
“The small scale industries are labour intensive. If we promote them, it would create employment opportunities even in rural areas. This was proven when different clusters of handicrafts created in various districts generated more than 50,000 employment opportunities over the past few years,” said another official.
Who Can Apply for this Scheme?
Anybody registered in the employment bank and having a Class VIII pass certificate could apply for the scheme.
“We have more than 14 lakh people registered with the employment bank. Many of them are interested in starting their own business in absence of jobs. The scheme would help them fulfill their dreams,” said a senior official.
Moreover, the timings of the scheme was a smart one as hundreds of unemployed people would apply for it said the officials.
