The rural industries programme (RIP) in the Pauri district of Uttarakhand is attempting to create new entrepreneurial skills in areas ranging from beauty parlours to printing presses among unemployed youth in the state’s mountainous areas.
With migration plaguing the hill state, the RIP began in September 2008 with the aim of setting up 200 small units in three years. A little over 150 units have been set up so far.
The integrated programme involving banks, government organisations and NGOs —which was initially implemented in the northeastern region — is now being replicated in Pauri district owing to its overwhelming success in states like Meghalaya and Manipur, said Poonam Sinha, Regional Head of the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), a Central government organisation under the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises.
“RIP is an area approach for selecting and germinating potential entrepreneurs by providing them all sorts of handholding support, basic inputs and services,” said Sinha.
The Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) is contributing a mere Rs 5.80 lakh for the programme and the remaining funding is being generated by IIE. “Given the meagre resources we have, the programme is turning out to be very successful,” said Sinha.
In the first place, a team from IIE selects a village and identifies prospective candidates for the programme. Later, it provides training to the selected candidates in setting up new units. The IIE has also roped in government agencies such as District Industries Centres (DICs), the Khadi and Village and Industries Commission (KVIC), the Khadi and Village Industries Board (KVIB) and the state tourism department. IIE also helps selected candidates obtain bank loans.
The units entail, on average, an investment of Rs 3.54 lakh (the range is from a low of Rs 25,000 to a high of Rs 25 lakh), with 25 per cent of the units catering to the needs of local markets. So far, IIE has trained a total of 912 candidates, who have set up 152 units.
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Some 38 proposals are also in the pipeline. Employment per unit varies from one to six members, with the average (including the promoter) being two persons per unit.
Significantly, 21 per cent of the units are being promoted by women. The bank loan varies from Rs 0.25 lakh to Rs 23.75 lakh. Nearly 60 per cent of the units are in rural areas and the remainder in urban areas.
A special training programme is also being launched in Kandara village in Pauri district for making eco-friendly carry bags, following the imposition of a ban on polythene. “In this particular programme we have adopted a cluster approach, so as to expand the business of making carry bags,” said Sinha.