Interest-free financial assistance for women entrepreneurs
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Interest-free financial assistance for women entrepreneurs

Post by on Wednesday, August 11, 2021

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Tejaswini livelihood scheme has received an overwhelming response from aspiring women entrepreneurs of Jammu and Kashmir during the first two weeks of the registration process.
“We have received more than 1000 queries from different districts of J&K in two weeks,” said Tabish Saleem, the Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Mission Youth.
“The potential aspirants are seeking different details and clarifications from us,” he said.
Eligible women can submit online applications for registration through the Youth Data Portal of Mission Youth J&K at https://www.jkyouthportal.in/ and follow the instructions for offline registration. 
The application process was started successfully on July 27 and has been running smoothly since then.
Saleem said the benefit of the scheme would be on first-cum-first serve basis as the Mission Youth has set a target to cover 2000 women entrepreneurs under the scheme during the current financial year.
“In view of low participation of women in various entrepreneurial and livelihood generation activities, Mission Youth has conceptualized this scheme for young women of J&K to uplift the status of women in the society,” he said.
 “It has a budgetary component of Rs. 12 crores earmarked by Mission Youth on account of government subsidy for the scheme for the current financial year,” he said. 
 According to the OSD, the scheme has the distinction of being the first of its kind under which repayment of financial assistance will be interest-free and it has been specifically modelled to ensure that businesses set up by these young women turn into viable and flourishing enterprises.
The scheme launched by Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, in June 2021 is a start-up funding program for adolescents and young women of the UT making them empowered and self-dependent through their own business ventures.  
The broad aim of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to young women of 18 to 35 years of age for setting up gainful self-employment ventures, suited to their skills, training, aptitude and local conditions. 
 Under the scheme, female entrepreneurs shall be facilitated to avail financial assistance under Mudra from J&K Bank to the extent of Rs 5.00 lakh. 
 Mission Youth, J&K shall provide an amount of Rs. 50,000 or 10% of the project cost as subsidy. Besides, the interest component of the loan shall also be sponsored by Mission Youth as a special incentive and repayment of the loan will technically be interest-free for the young female entrepreneurs who apply for assistance under the scheme.
 The scheme intends to provide assistance to all eligible young women who are domiciles of J&K and have a qualification of matriculation and above.  It will also cater to enterprises where women entrepreneurs hold not less than 50% of financial holding besides providing assistance to set up women-centric businesses and micro start-ups.
 Mission Youth has decentralized implementation of the scheme for ensuring convenience to prospective women entrepreneurs. In this regard, a district-level committee constituted under the Chairmanship of respective Deputy Commissioners shall implement the scheme and approve cases for assistance. Besides, concerned AD/DD Employment of each district has also been designated as Nodal Officers at District level to facilitate women entrepreneurs under the scheme.
 “The scheme will prove to be a significant step towards boosting the employment scenario in J&K where the unemployment rate is higher than the national average”, said CEO of Mission Youth, Shahid Choudhary while giving details about the scheme. 
 “The Mission Youth has been rolled out on an online portal for end-to-end process of applications under the scheme so that women entrepreneurs do not have to visit any office for the purpose,” he said.
The authorities have asked the women entrepreneurs to formalize their proposals which will be approved by the District Level Implementation Committee. A notification seeking applications will be issued in each district while an online portal will also remain available for online applications and approvals.
 
 
 
Schemes to empower women
 
 
Mahila E-haat 
A direct online marketing platform launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, this scheme is made to support women entrepreneurs. This is also part of the 'Digital India' initiative. You can register yourselves at www.mahilaehaat-rmk.gov.in.
Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao 
This social campaign is aimed at the eradication of female foeticide. It also raised awareness on welfare services meant for young Indian girls. A joint initiative run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the 'Save the Girl Child' movement was launched on January 22, 2015. It started with initial funding of Rs 100 crore.
One Stop Centre Scheme 
This scheme is popularly known as 'Sakhi'. It was implemented on April 1, 2015, with the 'Nirbhaya' fund. One-Stop Centres are established at various locations all over the country to provide shelter, police desk, legal, medical and counselling services to victims of violence under one roof, integrated with a 24-hour helpline. The toll-free helpline number is 181. 
Working Women Hostels 
The main aim of this scheme is to promote the availability of safe and conveniently located accommodation for working women. It also has daycare facility for their children, wherever possible, from urban to semi-urban, or even rural areas where women have the opportunity to work. The details for the Working Women Hostel Scheme can be accessed on the Department of Women and Child Development's official website.
Swadhar Greh 
The Swadhar scheme was launched by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2002, for the rehabilitation of women living in difficult situations. This scheme is meant to provide shelter, food, clothing and care to marginalized women and girls who are in need. The beneficiaries include widows deserted by their families and relatives, women prisoners released from jail and without family support, women survivors of natural disasters, women victims of terrorist/extremist violence etc. The implementing agencies are mainly NGOs.
STEP 
The Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP) Scheme exists to provide skills that give employability to women and to provide competencies and skill that enable women to become self-employed/entrepreneurs. A particular project by a woman will be for a duration of up to five years. It will depend upon nature, kind of activities and the number of beneficiaries to be undertaken. Sectors include Agriculture, Horticulture, Food Processing, Handlooms, Tailoring, Stitching, Embroidery, Zari etc, Handicrafts, Computer & IT-enabled services. It also includes soft skills and skills for the workplace such as spoken English, Gems & Jewellery, Travel & Tourism, Hospitality, etc.
Nari Shakti Puruskars 
The Nari Shakti Puruskars are national-level awards that recognize the efforts made by women and institutions that make a difference in women's lives, especially vulnerable and marginalized women. The awards are presented by the President of India every year on March 8 - International Women's Day - at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. Indiatimes
 

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