Pune: As many as 5,974 artisans of the total 29,000 from Pune district registered for the Vishwakarma Scheme have completed the training programme. Around 7,934 artisans have completed the three-stage verification, while 1,960 applications for training are pending.Close to 3,768 artisans filed applications with banks seeking loans, of which 998 applications were approved, totalling Rs 10 crore.The PM Vishwakarma Yojana is designed to offer comprehensive support to artisans and craftspeople working with traditional tools. The scheme aims to provide them with skill upgradation and relevant and suitable training opportunities, along with credit access.“We have provided 964 toolkits to the artisans under the scheme so far,” Satish Kharat, district village industries officer, said.Most of the registrations are from artisans in trades such as toymaking, garlandmaking, goldsmiths, tailoring, cobblers, and washermen.Sandip Lokhande, who runs a centre to implement the scheme, said although the scheme is extremely beneficial to the artisans, there is a need to ease the process. “The registration process is lengthy as applications are routed through Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). Many people face problems linking bank accounts with Aadhaar cards,” he said.After registration, artisans have to travel from Pune to Pimpri Chinchwad due to a lack of facilities. “Overall, there is a lack of trainers. Banks also reject loans because the artisan is a fresher or does not have an existing setup,” Lokhande said.Pune: As many as 5,974 artisans of the total 29,000 from Pune district registered for the Vishwakarma Scheme have completed the training programme. Around 7,934 artisans have completed the three-stage verification, while 1,960 applications for training are pending.Close to 3,768 artisans filed applications with banks seeking loans, of which 998 applications were approved, totalling Rs 10 crore.The PM Vishwakarma Yojana is designed to offer comprehensive support to artisans and craftspeople working with traditional tools. The scheme aims to provide them with skill upgradation and relevant and suitable training opportunities, along with credit access.“We have provided 964 toolkits to the artisans under the scheme so far,” Satish Kharat, district village industries officer, said.Most of the registrations are from artisans in trades such as toymaking, garlandmaking, goldsmiths, tailoring, cobblers, and washermen.Sandip Lokhande, who runs a centre to implement the scheme, said although the scheme is extremely beneficial to the artisans, there is a need to ease the process. “The registration process is lengthy as applications are routed through Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). Many people face problems linking bank accounts with Aadhaar cards,” he said.After registration, artisans have to travel from Pune to Pimpri Chinchwad due to a lack of facilities. “Overall, there is a lack of trainers. Banks also reject loans because the artisan is a fresher or does not have an existing setup,” Lokhande said.
