11 lakh artisans upskilled under Vishwakarma scheme in 1 year

NEW DELHI: Over 10.8 lakh traditional artisans and craftspeople have been upskilled under govt's flagship scheme PM Vishwakarma since its launch in Sept last year, with the top five trades being tailoring, masonry, carpentry, naai (barber) and malakaar (garland maker), report Ambika Pandit and Manash Pratim Gohain. Women make up nearly 40% of the upskilled candidates, and many took up training in traditional crafts like bamboo art, sculpting, and boat and fishnet making.

The scheme takes upskilling facilities and modern tools to the grassroots and provides credit facilities to help traditional artisans and craftspeople, referred to as 'vishwakarmas' under the yojana, to expand their business.

Of those trained, over 5.8 lakh belong to Other Backward Classes (OBC), over 1.9 lakh to Scheduled Castes (SC), and 87,614 to Scheduled Tribes (ST), according to data shared by ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship (MSDE).

Karnataka has the highest number of certified candidates at 1.1 lakh, followed by J&K (82,514) and Gujarat (82,542), according to the data. So far, Rs 551.8 crore has also been sanctioned in loans, with Rs 132.4 crore disbursed, to beneficiaries of the scheme.

Minister of state (independent charge) for skill development and entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary told TOI that the scheme is about more than skills. "It's about enabling women and artisans from all backgrounds to turn their craft into a viable livelihood. Women are getting trained across various trades, including regional crafts like bamboo art, sculpting and fishnet weaving."