To minimize unemployment problem, government of India came with the Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) . This scheme aims to provide self-employment opportunities to 10 lakh educated unemployed youth. The basic premise of this scheme is self-employment in the rural areas, which is considered as the best means of solving the growing unemployment problem.
The main objective of this scheme is to provide easy subsidized financial assistance to the unemployed but educated youth. The sole purpose of the scheme is to start something of their own in the manufacturing, business, services and trade sectors.
There are some basic eligibility criteria set to the scheme to avail the loan. They are as follows:
| Parameters | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Age | For all educated unemployed 18-35 years in general with a 10 years relaxation for SC/STs, ex-servicemen, physically handicapped and women |
| Education qualification | 8th passed. Preference will be given to those who have been trained for any trade in Government recognised approved institutions for duration of at least six months |
| Family Income | The income of the beneficiaries along with spouse or of parents should not exceed Rs. 40,000/- per annum |
| Residence | Permanent resident of the particular area for at least 3 years |
| Defaulter | Shouldn’t be a defaulter to any nationalised bank/financial institutes/corporative bank. Anyone already under any government’s subsidized program won’t be eligible for this program |
| Activities covered | All economically viable activities including agriculture and allied activities, excluding direct agricultural operations |
| Project cost | Rs.1 lakh for business sector. Rs. 2 lakh for other activities, loan to be of composite nature. |
| Subsidy | Subsidy will be limited to 15% of the project cost subject to ceiling of Rs. 7,500/- per entrepreneur. |
| Margin money | Banks will take margin money from the entrepreneur varying from 5% to 16.25% of the project cost. In total of the subsidy, the margin money equal to 20% of the project cost. |
| Collateral | No collateral for project up to Rs.1 lakh. |
| Rate of interest | Normal rate of interest shall be charged. |
| Repayment Schedule | Repayment schedule may range between 3 to 7 years after an initial moratorium as may be prescribed. |
| Training & other assistance | The training expenses and operational expenditure has to be covered within the ceiling of Rs. 2,000/- per case. |
| Reservation | The scheme envisages 22.5% reservation for SC/ST and 27% for Other Backward Class (OBCs).Other than that, preference should be given to the weaker sections including women. |
Apart from this, Government of India has approved the introduction of a new credit linked subsidy program called Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Program (PMEGP), to generate the employment opportunities through establishment of micro enterprises in rural as well as urban areas.
