VISAKHAPATNAM: Vizag is beautiful and very clean, said Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad.Speaking to mediapersons here on Tuesday, the Union Minister who came to the city to participate in the 5th Rozgar Mela, which was inaugurated virtually by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The BJP government at the Centre is committed to empowerment of youth. In the five phases of Rozgar Mela, 1.5 lakh jobs have been provided to unemployed youth,” he said.The Union Minister also participated in the State level bankers conference. The Central schemes such as PM Jan Dhan yojana, PM Suraksha Bima Yojana, PM Awas Yojana and PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana were reviewed at the meeting.
Plans are afoot to launch an awareness campaign, in association with NABARD to promote banking literacy among people in rural areas. According to Niti Aayog data, there are 112 backward districts in the country. Of the total, two districts are in Andhra Pradesh, he said.The SLBC meeting discussed allocation of funds for various development schemes and welfare programmes. The Union Minister also participated in a BJP meeting of the parliamentary constituency.
At the SLBC meeting, the Union Minister unveiled the annual credit plan for 2023-24 with an outlay of Rs 4.43 lakh crore. Out of the total outlay, Rs 3.23 lakh crore is meant for priority sector advances and Rs 1,20,000 crore for non-priority sector advances. Under the agriculture sector, Rs 2.31 lakh crore has been projected with an increase of 40% outlay compared to FY 2022-23.
The major thrust has been given to dairy development under agriculture term loans with a credit projection of Rs 9,000 crore. An amount of Rs 69,000 crore has been projected under MSME sector with a major allocation of Rs 36,000 crore for micro enterprises.
Deputy Chief Minister Budi Mutyala Naidu underlined the need to increase loans being given to TIDCO housing and for SC and ST entrepreneurs.Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy, Special Chief Secretary SS Rawat and other officials were present.