The 3rd Empowered Committee (EC) Meeting under the Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) scheme was convened today ( 24th July 2025 ) under the chairmanship of Dr. Chandra Shekhar Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs, at the Chintan Conference Hall, Pt. Deendayal Antyodaya Bhawan, CGO Complex, New Delhi.

The Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry, which converges five erstwhile schemes viz. ‘Seekho Aur Kamao’, ‘Nai Manzil’, ‘Nai Roshni’, ‘USTTAD’ and ‘Hamari Dharohar’ schemes and focuses on upliftment of six notified minority communities through the following:

i. Skilling and Training (Non-traditional and traditional)

ii. Women Leadership and Entrepreneurship

iii. Education (through National Institute of Open Schooling)

iv. Infrastructure Development (through Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram)

The scheme also provides to facilitate credit linkages by connecting beneficiaries with loan programs offered by the National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC).

For the implementation of the scheme, two key committees are constituted in order to scrutinise and evaluate proposals. The Screening Committee is for initial scrutiny of the proposals and making recommendations to the Empowered Committee, which approves the proposals.

On 24^th July, 2025, the Empowered Committee examined 15 proposals from various government institutions, public sector undertakings, universities and community-based organisations for onboarding under the PM VIKAS Scheme. Representatives of the proposing institutions/organisations presented their proposals before the committee, which included diverse proposals ranging from technical skilling and entrepreneurship to cultural heritage preservation.

During the meeting, the Empowered Committee emphasised the need for timely implementation and evolving a robust monitoring mechanism for the projects allocated under the PM VIKAS scheme.

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SS/ISA

(Release ID: 2148014)