Yogi distributes tool kits to 21K beneficiaries
LUCKNOW : Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday distributed tool kits to 21,000 beneficiaries under the ‘Vishwakarma Shram Samman Yojana’ and Rs 171 crore financial assistance (loans) to 11,000 beneficiaries of ‘Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana’ on the occasion of Vishwkarma Jayanti that coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday.
“Our government is organizing a Vikas Utsav from September 17 to October 7 to commemorate PM Modi’s able leadership that has given a new direction to the country. Today’s function is being organized to honour the talent of handicrafts artisans,” the CM said while speaking on the occasion.
This date (September 17), he pointed out, was important in two ways — it was Lord Vishwakarma’s birth anniversary, and the day also marked the birthday of the world’s most popular leader and country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was completing 20 years of public service on October 6.
Adityanath said while Vishwakarma was the God of construction and creation, PM Modi had given a new model of Indian economics, which was proving helpful in making traditional entrepreneurs and handicraft artisans self-reliant. He said adoption of PM’s ‘vocal for local’ mantra alone could materialise the dream of a prosperous India.
He said UP government’s ‘one district, one product’ scheme had shown new direction to handicraft artisans and entrepreneurs. Yogi Adityanath said his government provided jobs to all 40 lakh migrant workers who came to the state during the lockdown last year.
The CM claimed that UP’s unemployment rate was far lower than that of other states in the country. “The unemployment rate in UP was as high as 17% in 2017, which has now been reduced to mere 4 to 5%,” he pointed out.
He said more than 68,400 people had been trained under the ‘Vishwakarma Samman Yojana’ so far with each trainee getting Rs 250 as daily wages. He directed the MSME department to chalk out a plan to distribute tool kits to 75,000 handicrafts artisans in the next three months.