The Kodagu district administration conducted a one-day seminar-cum-awareness camp on PM Vishwakarma programme to help artisans engaged in traditional crafts.
The Additional DC of Kodagu B.N. Veena urged the eligible persons to avail the benefits of the scheme which is being implemented by the Union government.
She said the objective of the PM Vishwakarma programme was to provide financial assistance to artisans engaged in traditional crafts including blacksmiths, goldsmiths, potters, carpenters, sculptors, etc., and whose skills are inherited and passed on to posterity from generation to generation within the family or informal groups.
Some of the benefits include collateral-free credit support upto ₹1 lakh in the first tranche and ₹2 lakh under the second tranche with concessional interest rate of 5 per cent, the participants were informed.
There was also scope to fund for providing toolkit, skill upgradation, etc. The Joint Director of District Industries Centre T. Dinesh, district lead bank manager Gangadhar Nayak, and officials from different departments participated in it and spoke on various aspects ranging from registration to documents required to avail the benefits.