The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, addressed a Post Budget Webinar on ‘PM VIshwakarma KAushal Samman’ today. It was dedicated to newly announced scheme PM VIKAS for providing holistic support to the artisans and crafts persons which are so far not covered under any of schemes of GOI.

 The special address by the Prime Minister was followed by four parallel breakout sessions on (i) Access to affordable finance, including incentives for digital transactions and social security, (ii) Advanced skill training and access to modern tools and technology, (iii) Marketing support for linkages with domestic and global markets and (iv) Structure of the scheme, identification of beneficiaries and implementation framework. The panel included expert artisans from respective fields, officials from Central Ministries and State Governments and representatives from Banks,  other financial institutions, Private organizations,  Associations and e-commerce platforms. 

The third breakout session on ‘Marketing support for linkages with domestic and global markets’ was moderated by Ms Shubhra, Development Commissioner, Handicraft and Handloom, Ministry of Textiles. The session focused on the framework of marketing support for domestic and global markets to be provided in the newly conceived scheme. It covered discussion on improving market avenues for the artisans, creating backward and forward linkages, publicity, advertising, quality certification, packaging and logistics support to be provided to artisans. The panelists included expert artisans Shri Shubham Satpute (Leather expert), Shri Bihari Lal Prajapati (Expert potter) and Shri M. Manikandan (Expert sculptor)). The other panelists included Shri Abhishek Chandra (Special Secretary, Government of Tripura), Shri Irfan Alam (Director, Khadi India Portal), Smt. Prachi Bhuchar (Meesho e-commerce platform), Shri P. Gopalakrishnan (Chairman, HEPC) and Shri Rajkumar Malhotra (Chairman, EPCH). The session brought out various valuable suggestions which will enable a meaningful formulation of scheme structure. 

The fourth breakout session on ‘Structure of the scheme and implementation framework’, moderated by the Ministry of MSME focused primarily on implementation framework of the scheme, role of stakeholders, rate of interest, guarantee coverage, convergence with other schemes, mechanism for identification of beneficiaries etc. The panelists included expert artisans Padma Shri Shri V.K. Munusamy (expert pottery and terracotta artist)), Shri Vishwanathan Achary (Innovator and coordinator for traditional artisans) and Ms. Kevisedenuo Margaret Zinyu (Expert designer). The other panelists included Shri Amit Mohan Prasad (Additional Chief Secretary, UP), Ms Mudita Mishra (Additional Commissioner Handicrafts, Ministry of Textiles), Shri Mukesh Kumar Bansal (JS, DFS), Shri Krishna Kumar Dwivedi (JS&CVO, MSDE), Shri Vinit Kumar (CEO, KVIC) and Ms. Shalini Pandey (Director, MoHUA).

The breakout sessions were followed by a closing session co-headed by Smt. Rachana Shah, Secretary (Ministry of Textiles) and Shri B.B. Swain, Secretary (MSME). The moderators of the breakout sessions included Dr Rajneesh, AS&DC (MSME), Shri Nilambuj Sharan (Senior Economic Adviser, M/o Skill Development and Entrepreneurship), Ms. Shubhra (Trade Adviser & DC (Handicrafts & Handlooms, M/o Textiles) and Shri Mukesh Kumar Bansal, JS (Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance). The panelists summarized the points emerging out of the discussions held in the respective sessions.

The closing session was followed by an address by Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Textiles. He highlighted how the post budget webinars organized by the Government is adding value to the policy discourse. He emphasized the need of convergence of PM VIKAS scheme with the existing schemes in other Ministry/Departments. He also mentioned the importance of breaking the silos in implementation of this scheme. The session also witnessed the presence of Minister of MSME along with Shri Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Minister of State for MSME and Smt. Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Minister of State for Textiles. 

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