Union MSME Minister Kalraj Mishra today expressed concern over low utilisation of funds earmarked for employment generation in North-Eastern states.
Under the Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme, only Rs 29.46 crore were disbursed as margin money against the target of Rs 175.54 crore in North-Eastern states.
The programme run by the MSME ministry is an instrument for generating employment opportunities in urban and rural areas through setting up of micro enterprises.
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"This is a matter of concern. The position has been reviewed in the meeting and also the bottlenecks were examined," the MSME Minister said during a review meeting with all stakeholders of the programme in respect of North-Eastern states here.
At the national level, disbursement of margin money touched Rs 495 crore with 20,351 projects and employment opportunities to 1,58,230 persons as on January 23, 2015, an official release said.
"However, in NE states against the target of Rs 175.54 crore it has touched only Rs 29.46 crore," it said.
The unemployment rate in India is estimated to be around 8.8 per cent as compared to 6.1 per cent in the US, 3.9 per cent in Japan.
Since inception of the Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme in 2008-09, a total of 2.89 lakh units were set up generating 25.41 lakh jobs in the country.
