GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has launched the “Chief Minister’s Atmanirbhar Asom Abhijan 2023” scheme to help the youths of the state set up their own ventures.
The scheme was envisaged to fuel growth through self-employment and self-sufficiency. On the occasion, Sarma also launched a registration portal.
Under the scheme, financial aid will be given to two lakh youths for creating a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The scheme aims at facilitating self-employment among educated youths, creating an entrepreneur-oriented ecosystem, generating employment through new ventures, offering financial assistance to individuals to set up or expand existing enterprises and increasing focus on rural economy and seed capital amount through bank linkages wherever feasible.
Sarma said the scheme had been designed to create self-employment avenues to enable the youths to fuel the state’s development. He also said that the scheme has the potential to strengthen the rural economy.
Unemployed degree holders in engineering, MBBS, BDS, agriculture, animal husbandry, fishery etc will be kept in the first category and given Rs 5 lakh, Sarma said.
On the other hand, unemployed post-graduates, general graduates, ITI, and polytechnic pass-outs will be kept in the second category for government assistance of Rs 2 lakh.
In the first category, Sarma said out of Rs 5 lakh, the beneficiaries would be required to return Rs 2.5 lakh without any interest and the remaining amount would be government assistance. Similarly, in the second category, he said Rs 1 lakh would be a government subsidy and the remaining Rs 1 lakh would have to be paid back by the beneficiary without any interest.
“Under the scheme, targeted sectors will be agriculture and horticulture, stationery, poultry, dairy, goat farming, piggery, fisheries, packaging, readymade garments, fabrication, plantation – bamboo, rubber, agar, wood-based industries etc. One member from one family shall be eligible for the scheme and the applicant will be registered with the employment exchange,” Sarma said.
Several ministers were among the dignitaries who were present on the occasion.