Ongole: Handicrafts artisans to get Rs 15,000 toolkit incentives

Ongole: Prakasam district collector AS Dinesh Kumar asked the officials to identify eligible handicraft workers, who will be benefited with Rs 15,000 under the PM Vishwakarma Scheme, which is going to be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17.

He conducted a review meeting with the officials on implementing the scheme in the district at his camp office in Ongole on Thursday.

Speaking with the officials of the concerned departments, the collector said that as part of the PM Vishwakarma scheme, the eligible beneficiaries will get a toolkit incentive of Rs 15,000 and a stipend of Rs 500 per day in their skill enhancement training programme. He asked the officials to inform the beneficiaries that they may also get bank loans with subsidised interest after they complete the skill enhancement training.

Officials are asked to arrange a workshop with the municipal commissioners, MPDOs, and organisations of traditional handicraft workers next week to discuss the procedure to identify the eligible beneficiaries at the village and ward secretariat-level.

The collector advised the district industries centre general manager B Srinivasa Rao to take measures to increase the number of applicants for the scheme. The DRDA PD Ravi Kumar, LDM Abdul Rahim, DSDO R Lokanatham, representatives of the traditional handicraft workers’ associations and others also participated in the meeting.