Karnataka Minorities Development Corporation (KMDC) will launch a skill development programme to train 10,000 unemployed graduates belonging to various minority communities, from October in the State.
Addressing presspersons here on Thursday, S.Y.M. Masood Foujdar, chairperson of KMDC, said that KMDC had a target of training 1,000 youths each in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts as the area had high concentration of minority communities.
The unemployed youth would be trained under the ‘Develop India’ programme. KMDC would tie up with a few reputed educational institutions in the districts to provide training.
The youth would be trained in sectors, including information technology, biotechnology, banking and insurance.
Jobs and loans
While 70 per cent of the youth trained under the skill development programme would be provided placements, KMDC hoped to provide loans to the remaining 30 per cent to start their own enterprises.
KMDC would provide subsidised loans to 5,000 minority students to pursue medical, engineering and dental courses, this year. The KMDC had already entered into MoU with Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) in this regard, he added.
As soon as the minority students, who appear for the Common Entrance Test (CET) get their ranks for admission to professional courses, KMDC will sanction the loan to eligible students, and tuition fee payable by them, will be paid to the college concerned by KEA.
Students, who avail themselves of educational loan, will have to start repay the loan amount over a period of three years, and repayment has to start six months after the completion of their course.
KMDC has provided subsidised loans to 2,135 students pursuing professional courses last year.
This loan was provided to 145 students in Udupi district, he added.
KMDC will implement schemes worth Rs. 5.85 crore in Udupi district in 2015-16. Till August 2015, KMDC had spent Rs. 4.03 crore.
KMDC has waived loans to the tune of Rs. 3.58 crore taken by 1,676 beneficiaries. And, loans totalling Rs. 1.38 crore have been recovered in the period from April 2014 to August 2015, Mr. Foujdar said.
District Supervisor of KMDC Sridhar Bhandary, president of District Wakf Board Nakwa Yahya, and former President of District Minorities Forum Khatib Abdul Rasheed were among those present.
