The self-employment support scheme introduced under Kaivalya, the National Employment Service Department’s comprehensive job rehabilitation project for the physically handicapped, has got off to a flying start at the special employment exchange for the physically handicapped in Ernakulam region with the entire tranche of allocation getting disbursed in just over three months.
The special employment exchange for the Ernakulam region also caters to the districts of Thrissur, Palakkad and Malappuram.
Kaivalya was launched in November and the applications for submitting projects were invited the next month. “The projects were vetted and approved by the district-level committees in January, the funds were allocated in February and the entire ₹4 lakh was credited to the bank accounts of the chosen beneficiaries in March,” M.K. Asokan, Ernakulam Sub Regional Employment Officer, told The Hindu .
District-level committees
The committees have the District Collector concerned as chairperson, the sub regional employment officer as convener and six members including district social justice officer, district employment officer, employment officer (placement), employment officer (self-employment) and two special school representatives.
Out of the 77 applications received from across the four districts, two beneficiaries each from each district were allotted ₹50,000. Ernakulam accounted for 16 applications, Thrissur 36, Malappuram 17 and Palakkad eight. The authorities have asked for an additional allocation of ₹34.50 lakh to fund the remaining 69 applicants whose projects had already been approved by the district-level committee.
Of the interest-free loan component, 50% was grant and the beneficiaries need to repay only ₹25,000, in 60 equal instalments of ₹420 over five years.
Payment of EMIs
In the case of Ernakulam, the first EMI should be paid with the special employment exchange and in other districts with the district employment officers. The remaining 59 EMIs can be paid at town employment exchanges concerned.
The initial beneficiaries are required to start repayment from June after a gap of two months to ensure that they set up their projects using the funds without any delay.
The scheme recognises 43 different projects while other projects are also acceptable provided they are approved by the district-level committees.
To be eligible for the scheme, the prospective beneficiaries should have registered with town employment exchanges concerned or the special employment exchange for the physically handicapped. The jurisdiction of the special employment exchange in Ernakulam covers the panchayats of Cheranalloor, Kadamakkudy and Mulavukad, Thrikkakara and Kalamassery municipalities and Kanayannur taluk within Kochi Corporation.
Seven-day training
All the registered applicants are required to undergo seven-day training at the rural self-employment training institutes run by the lead bank in each district. Besides, they should have attained the age of 21 years and not exceeding 55 years and their annual income should not exceed ₹2 lakh.
