Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), which is the Central government’s flagship scheme implemented in 2017 to provide financial assistance to new enterprises, saw its best year in 2021. The Government’s official data shows that 36,391 new micro enterprises were set up in FY21 and a subsidy of Rs 1,150 crore was extended to the new enterprises under the scheme. The Government figures show that a total of 2,91,656 jobs were created through these units during the seven-month period of 2021-22.
Under the scheme, Indian citizens over the age of 18 and educated till at least the eighth grade may apply for the financial assistance. Assistance can also be given to people engaged in self-help groups, production co-operative societies, charitable trusts and so on, if they haven’t availed similar government aid under other government schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Yojana, Rural Employment Generation Programme, and so on.
A maximum assistance of Rs 25 lakh may be granted to an enterprise set up in the manufacturing sector. For the services sector, the cap of financial assistance is set at Rs 10 lakhs.
India has also recorded a significant jump in employment numbers in October. The number of employed people in October stood at 400.77 million in comparison to 406.24 million in September 2021, as per the monthly data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
