Feature

MSME

 

Creating self-reliance amongst the people and building up a strong rural community spirit, KVIC has been identified as one of the major organisations for generating sustainable non-farm employment opportunities in rural areas. It undertakes activities like skill improvement; transfer of technology; research & development; marketing etc. and helps in generating employment/self-employment opportunities in rural areas.

Main Objectives of KVIC

·         The social objective of providing employment in rural areas;

·         The economic objective of producing saleable articles; and

·         The wider objective of creating self-reliance amongst people and building up a strong rural community spirit.

 

Functions

 

The functions of KVIC as prescribed under the KVIC Act, 1956 (61 of 1956) and Rules made there under, include: 

·         to plan and organise training of persons employed or desirous of seeking employment in khadi and village industries;

·         to build up directly or through specified agencies reserves of raw materials and implements and supply them or arrange supply of raw materials and implements to persons engaged or likely to be engaged in production of handspun yarn or khadi or village industries at such rates as the Commission may decide;

·         to encourage and assist in the creation of common service facilities for the processing of raw materials or semi-finished  goods and otherwise facilitate production and marketing of khadi or products of village industries;

·         to promote the sale and marketing of khadi or products of village industries or  handicrafts and for this purpose forge links with established marketing agencies wherever necessary and feasible;

·         to encourage and promote research in the technology used in khadi and village industries, including the use of non-conventional energy and electric power with a view to increasing productivity, eliminating drudgery and otherwise enhancing their competitive capacity and to arrange for dissemination of salient results obtained from such research;

·         to undertake directly or through other agencies, studies of the problems of khadi or village industries;

·         to provide financial assistance directly or through specified agencies to institutions or persons engaged in the development and operation of khadi or village industries and guide them through supply of designs, prototypes and other technical information, for the purpose of producing goods and services for which there is effective demand in the opinion of the Commission;

·         to undertake directly or through specified agencies, experiments or pilot projects which in the opinion of the Commission, are necessary for the development of khadi and village industries;

·         to establish and maintain separate organizations for the purpose of carrying out any or all of the above matters; 

·         to promote and encourage cooperative efforts among the manufacturers of khadi or persons engaged in village industries;

·         to ensure genuineness and to set up standards of quality and ensure that products of khadi and village industries do conform to the said standards, including issue of certificates or letters of recognition to the concerned persons; and

·         to carry out any other activity incidental to the above.

 

KVIC has not been mandated to be a profit making organization, its activities are intended to usher the sector into an era of growth, increased income and employment and increased artisans welfare. The figures of production, sale and employment of KVI products during the last five years as shown in the table show that the sector has consistently grown in recent times.

 

*Estimated

 

 To strengthen the KVI Sector in the country, the following are some of the major steps taken by the the Ministry of MSME .

·         Introduction of Market Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme on production of khadi with effect from 1 April, 2010 to incentivize production and marketing of Khadi and Polyvastra besides earning 25% of the assistance to provide for financial incentives to artisans.

·         Making available concessional credit (@ 4% interest) to khadi institutions under the Interest Subsidy Eligibility Certificate (ISEC) Scheme;

·         Providing financial support to institutions under the Scheme for Enhancing Productivity and Competitiveness of khadi industry and Artisans;

·         Providing better work environment to khadi spinners and weavers under the Workshed Scheme for Khadi Artisans;

·         Developing around 100 clusters of Khadi, Village Industries and Coir under Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) with improved equipment, business development services, training, capacity building and exposure visits, design and marketing support and common facility centers

·         Apart from the above, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance has tied up funds  from Asian Development Bank (ADB) amounting to US$150 million over a period of three years from 2009-10 for implementing a  comprehensive Khadi Reform Programme worked out in consultation with ADB and KVIC.  Under this reform package, it is proposed to revitalize the khadi sector with enhanced sustainability of khadi, increased incomes and employment to artisans and increased artisans welfare.  Initially, the programme will be initiated in 300 khadi institutions in keeping with the needs of regional balance, geographical spread and inclusion of backward areas.

 

The Ministry of MSME is also implementing Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), a credit-linked subsidy programme since 2008-09 through KVIC for generating self-employment opportunities through establishment of micro enterprises by organizing traditional artisans and unemployed youth, helping in preventing their migration besides increasing their earning capacity.  At the State/Union Territories level, the scheme is implemented through field offices of KVIC, State/Union Territory Khadi and Village Industries Boards (KVIBs) and District Industries Centres(DICs) with involvement of Banks.  Under this programme, beneficiaries can establish micro enterprises inter alia, under Mineral Based Industry; Forest Based Industry; Agro Based and Food Processing Industry, Polymer and Chemical Based Industry, Rural Engineering and Bio-Technology Industry, Hand Made Paper & Fibre Industry and Service Industry, by availing of margin money subsidy of 25 percent  of project cost for  units in rural areas to be set up by beneficiaries belonging to general category, which will be 35 percent for beneficiaries belonging to special categories  such as scheduled cast/scheduled trible /Women and others through the  implementing agencies and loans from Banks, etc., for projects costing upto Rs.25 lakh each in the manufacturing sector and upto Rs.10 lakh each in the services sector. (PIB Features.)

 

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*Inputs from the Ministry of MSME.

 SS-115/SF-115/15-06-2012

 

RTS/HSN