Lok Sabha Question No. 154 (STARRED), answered on 2025-12-10
Subject: PM-Vikas Scheme
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri E T Mohammed Basheer

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 154

ANSWERED ON 10.12.2025

## PM-VIKAS SCHEME

154. SHRI E T MOHAMMED BASHEER:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  rate  of  verified  employment  and  self-employment  placement  achieved  under  the PMVIKAS scheme  during  the  last  financial  year  and  the  manner  in  which  this  figure  is compared with the outcomes recorded in previous years; (b)  the  details  of  beneficiaries  who  secured  wage  employment  and  those  who  entered selfemployment under the PM-VIKAS scheme during the said period and the mechanisms used to independently verify the accuracy of these outcome figures; and (c)  the  details  of  findings  of  the  independent  third-party  evaluation  conducted  for  the PMVIKAS  scheme  regarding  employment  generation,  self-employment  creation,  income enhancement and job  retention  and  the  manner  in  which  these  findings  reflect  the  overall
- effectiveness of the scheme during the last financial year?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS

(SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a) to (c) A statement is laid on the table of the House.

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## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  154  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  10.12.2025  ASKED  BY HON'BLE  MEMBER  OF  PARLIAMENT  SHRI E  T  MOHAMMED  BASHEER REGARDING ' PM-VIKAS SCHEME '

(a) to (c): The Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) is a flagship Scheme of Ministry of Minority Affairs which converges five erstwhile schemes, including Seekho aur Kamao (SAK), USTTAD, Nai Manzil, Nai Roshni and Hamari Dharohar. The Central Sector scheme focuses on the socio-economic empowerment of the six notified minority communities through skill development; entrepreneurship and leadership of minority women; and education support for school dropouts.

The scheme guidelines were approved in January 2025. Accordingly, the process to allocate projects under the scheme was initiated thereafter. So far, a target of  approx. 1.40 lakh  beneficiaries  has  been  allocated  to  42  Project  Implementing  Agencies    (PIAs)  across Non Traditional Skilling, Traditional Skilling, Women Leadership & Entrepreneurship and Education components under the PM VIKAS scheme.

As per the scheme guidelines, the following placement or employment deliverables are mandated under different components:-

## (A) Non-Traditional Skilling Component

Under  the  Non-Traditional  skilling  component,  it  is  mandatory  for  the  PIAs  to  ensure placement of at  least  75  percent  skilled  beneficiaries  in  some  form  of  employment  (wage/ self-employment/ apprenticeship) of which at least 50 percent should be placed in organized sector,  as  categorised  in  the  National  Skills  Qualifications  Framework  (NSQF)  /  Common Cost Norms (CCN).

## (B) Traditional Skilling Component

Under this component, business opportunities would be facilitated by:

(a ) Minority community specific events/ 'Parvs':

i. Supporting minority craft persons in showcasing and marketing their products and/or local traditional cuisine and ICH.

ii. Facilitating  buyer-seller  meets,  promoting  inter-community  solidarity,  and  cultural exchanges.

iii. Striving to improve the quality of local products in sync with 'vocal for local' campaign. Enhancing  the  visibility  of  local  art,  artists  (including  ICH)  and  their  communities  by promoting tourism (including sustainable, eco & religious tourism) and local economy.

(b) financial support in the form of loan/ credit from National Minorities Development and Finance corporation (NMDFC) or other banking / non-banking institutions,

(c) formation of individual/ group enterprises for livelihood generation.

## (C) Women Leadership and Entrepreneurship Component

TheWomen Leadership and Entrepreneurship Component of the scheme provides for:

- i. Career counselling to all interested beneficiaries to ensure that at least 15 percent of them are  either  assisted  in  applying  for  suitable  education  and  skill  training  under  any  other scheme of this Ministry (through Traditional and Non-Traditional Skilling Components), or similar  programs  of  other  ministries,  or  assisted  in  finding  suitable  jobs  for  entering  the labour/ employment market as per their qualifications.
- ii. Development of individual or group enterprises  amongst  30  percent  of  the  beneficiaries trained under the Entrepreneurship Development  module  to  setup  enterprises/ selfemployment  ventures  in  line  with  the  vision  of  'Atma Nirbhar  Bharat',  by  establishing linkages with financial institutions such as NMDFC, Banks, NBFCs.
- iii. Selection of 10 percent of the women trained under Entrepreneurship Development based on  their  leadership  qualities  being  provided  a  training  of  240  hours  to  become  Business Mentors / Business Correspondents (Biz Sakhis/ Udyami Mitras), with a view to equip them to  handhold  potential  entrepreneurs  and  set-up/  scale-up  enterprises  and  develop  and promote their own enterprises. Biz Sakhis  are envisioned as mentors who would provide doorstep support to other women entrepreneurs to help them to set up their ventures and improve their livelihoods.

As the implementation of PM VIKAS scheme has commenced only recently and all allocated  projects  are  in  initial  stages  of  implementation,  no  outcome  based  study/  policy evaluation / third party concurrent monitoring has been conducted till date under the scheme. However, the scheme guidelines mandate concurrent monitoring of the scheme, in order to ensure effective on-ground implementation. Besides, to ensure transparency and accountability  in  the  implementation  of  PM  VIKAS,  the  dedicated  portal  for  PM  VIKAS Scheme has been integrated with Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH) portal of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) to ensure efficient, real-time monitoring along with  coherence  within  the  skilling  ecosystem,  keeping  in  mind  the  'whole -ofgovernment' approach.

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