New Delhi, March 19 As many as 4,928 villages have been declared as Adarsh Gram and 4,25,821 beneficiaries have benefited this fiscal to date, which has led to socio-economic development by ensuring adequate infrastructure and requisite services in the SC-dominated villages, the government informed the Parliament on Wednesday.
Under the 'Grants-in-aid' component of the Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana, 9,549 projects have been approved and central assistance of Rs 1,219.80 crore has been released, benefiting 2,01,006 SC beneficiaries, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ramdas Athawale, told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
PM-AJAY is a centrally-sponsored scheme being implemented since 2021-22. The scheme has three components -- Adarsh Gram, Grants-in-aid for District/State-level Projects for Socio-Economic betterment of Scheduled Caste (SC) Communities, and Hostels.
So far, 866 hostels are sanctioned under the hostel component of PM-AJAY, covering 69,212 beneficiaries and an amount of Rs 936.27 crore has been released, thereby encouraging students belonging to scheduled castes to attain quality education.
Out of the total hostels sanctioned, 96 hostels are under construction.
Meanwhile, the government has introduced various schemes to promote entrepreneurship and innovation amongst scheduled castes.
The Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes (VCF-SC), with a corpus of Rs 750 crore, provides concessional finance ranging from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 crore at a 4 per cent coupon rate. This fund is managed by IFCI Venture Capital Ltd.
Additionally, the Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission (ASIIM), supports SC students, researchers, and entrepreneurs in Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) and Atal Incubation Centers (AICs).
Under ASIIM, Rs 30 lakh equity funding is provided over three years to help start-ups in sectors such as agriculture technology, IT, environment, waste management, and green energy.
As of now, 245 SC-owned companies have been sanctioned financial assistance of Rs 588.4 crore under the Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes, including ASIIM, the government said.
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