Lok Sabha Question No. 3193 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-04
Subject: Beneficiaries under Minority Schemes
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: Sunil Kumar Mondal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3193

ANSWERED ON 04.08.2022

## BENEFICIARIES UNDER MINORITY SCHEMES

## 3193. SHRI SUNIL KUMAR MONDAL

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a)    the  details  of  the  number  of  people  benefitted  through  the  schemes  like  Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS), Seekho aur Kamao (Learn and Earn) and Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/ Crafts for  Development (USTTAD) since   the schemes have been launched; and
- (b)  the  steps  proposed  by  the  Government  for  effective  implementation  of  the  said schemes, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a)  &  (b) Pradhan  Mantri  Virasat  Ka  Samvardhan  (PM  VIKAS) is  an  umbrella  scheme that  converges five of the existing schemes of the Ministry namely Seekho aur Kamao, USTTAD, Hamari Dharohar, Nai Roshni  and  Nai  Manzil.  It  aims  to  benefit  the  target group by providing skilling, training, leadership, entrepreneurship, and education support. The scheme has been approved for implementation.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs implements Seekho Aur Kamao, and USTTAD schemes for  socio-economic  empowerment  of  minorities  in  the  country.  Seekho  Aur  Kamao scheme  (Learn  and  Earn) is  a  placement-linked  skill  development  scheme  that  was launched  in  September  2013  and  aims  to  upgrade  the  skills  of  minority  youth  (14-45 years) in various modern/ traditional skills. USTTAD scheme was launched in 2015 and targets capacity building and upgrading the traditional skills of master craftsmen/ artisans from the minority communities. The details of beneficiaries of these schemes is tabulated below.

| Number of beneficiaries trained   | Number of beneficiaries trained   |
|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| Seekho aur Kamao                  | 4,68,078                          |
| USTTAD                            | 23,130                            |

Both of these schemes are implemented by Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs) that are empanelled by the Ministry  through a transparent process by inviting RFP (Request for Proposal).  It  is  mandatory  for  the  PIAs  to  register  on   the  NITI  Aayog's  NGO  Darpan Portal.  To  effectively  track  and  monitor  the  performance,  PIAs  are  also  mandated  to update scheme specific data on the Scheme  portal. PIAs are required to keep biometric attendance records of the beneficiaries. The Ministry has developed a mobile application to  capture  direct  feedback  of  the  beneficiaries  of  Seekho  Aur  Kamao  scheme.  Further, training verification is also conducted by the Ministry through random telephonic calls to the beneficiaries. Fund is  released to the PIAs in instalments, as per scheme guidelines, based on satisfactory reports from physical inspection/ monitoring visits conducted at the training Centres.

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