The Uttar Pradesh government is gearing up to implement Prime Minister Modi’s ambitious ‘PM Vishwakarma’ scheme on a large scale. Following Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s directives, efforts are being made to connect as many ‘Vishwakarma’ (skilled persons) with the scheme as possible from the state, starting from September 17.

Notably, the state government aims to provide benefits of the scheme to skilled personnel associated with 18 different trades. The training will be held to enhance the skills of ‘Vishwakarma’ in all these trades through master trainers under the Skill Development Mission.

During both basic and advanced training, the government will also provide a stipend to ‘Vishwakarma’.

It is noteworthy that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman first announced the PM Vishwakarma Yojana in her budget speech on February 1, 2023. Following that, on August 15, Prime Minister Modi announced the inauguration of this scheme from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

“The Yogi government, along with implementing the PM Vishwakarma scheme in the state, has also devised a plan to enhance the skills of skilled personnel even further. In this regard, the government has instructed the Skill Development Mission to provide training to the beneficiaries of ‘Vishwakarma’ scheme in all 18 trades,” the Chief Minister’s office said.

After verifying the skills of the beneficiaries of ‘PM Vishwakarma scheme, the government will provide them 5 days of basic training, CMO press release said.

“Afterward, 10 percent of ‘Vishwakarma’ will also receive advanced-level training for better performance. Advanced training will acquaint them with new techniques to meet changing customer demands and enhance their products,” the CMO said.

Notably, all ‘Vishwakarmas’ will receive a daily stipend of Rs 500. The Yogi government aims at providing basic training to 30 lakh ‘Vishwakarmas’ and advanced training to 3 lakh of them, the press release stated.

“The 30 lakh ‘Vishwakarma’ workers who undergo basic training will also receive incentives in the form of Rs 15,000 e-vouchers or e-cash for toolkits. Additionally, they will receive an incentive of Re 1 per transaction for up to 100 digital transactions per month, encouraging them for digital transactions,” the CMO further said.

The state government has also planned to spend Rs 250 crores on quality certification, branding, advertising, publicity, and other marketing initiatives of this scheme, the release said.

“Master trainers from local industries will be selected for training. It will also be ensured that all Vishwakarmas are available for skill verification and basic training and complete it. Monitoring of training and training centers will also be done at the district and state levels,” the release stated further.

Not only this, certificates will be provided to all Vishwakarmas at a convocation ceremony Public representatives will also be invited to this convocation.

According to the scheme, the first step will be to identify and establish training centres at the district or block level for skill enhancement in all 18 trades. These centres will provide boarding and lodging facilities and encourage ‘Vishwakarmas’ to participate.

“Local industry master trainers will be selected to conduct the training. It will also be ensured that all ‘Vishwakarmas’ are available for skill verification and basic training. Monitoring of training and training centres will be done at the district and state levels,” the CMO added.

The ‘Vishwakarmas’ who will benefit from the scheme include carpenters (soothar), boat builders, weapon makers, blacksmiths, hammer and toolkit makers, locksmiths, goldsmiths, potters, sculptors, stone breakers, cobblers, masons, basket, mat, and broom weaver, traditional toy maker, barber, garland maker, laundry worker, tailor, and fishing net makers.