Parliament Question: Promoting Entrepreneurship among Rural Youth

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3842 ANSWERED ON 11/08/2026 PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AMONG RURAL YOUTH

3842. Smt. Malvika Devi:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has taken any special initiatives to promote entrepreneurship among rural youth in Kalahandi Lok Sabha constituency and Nuapada district of Odisha, through programmes such as the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) and other schemes of the Ministry, if so, the details thereof;

(b) the number of rural enterprises established and the employment generated therefrom in Kalahandi and Nuapada districts during the last three years, scheme and year-wise;

(c) whether the Government proposes to establish dedicated Rural Business Incubation Centres, entrepreneurship facilitation centres or mentoring and handholding support mechanisms for aspiring entrepreneurs in Kalahandi and Nuapada, particularly for women and tribal youth; and

(d) if so, the details thereof, including the financial assistance proposed, implementation timeline and the measures taken to promote value addition in agriculture, millets, forest produce, handicrafts and other local livelihood activities in Kalahandi Lok Sabha Constituency? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. CHANDRA SEKHAR PEMMASANI)

(a) & (b): The Ministry of Rural Development, under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), implements Rural Self Employment Training Institute (RSETI) programme for rural youth in the age group of 18–50 years to promote entrepreneurship in the entire country including in Kalahandi Lok Sabha Constituency and Nuapada district of Odisha. The objective of the programme is self-employment and micro-enterprise Page 1 of 6development, with a mandate of minimum 70% settlement (including a maximum of 10% wage employment), along with credit linkage facilitation and handholding support to trainees for up to two years after completion of training.

Further Odisha Livelihoods Mission (OLM), under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), has been taking various initiatives to promote entrepreneurship among rural youth in Kalahandi Lok Sabha Constituency and Nuapada district of Odisha. Skill development, entrepreneurship orientation and capacity building are provided through Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs), which offer free skill-based residential training, entrepreneurship development, counselling and post- training handholding support to rural youth for establishing self- employment ventures and micro-enterprises. Institutional credit is facilitated through SHG Bank Linkage and interest subvention.

The details of the number of rural enterprises established and the employment generated there from in Kalahandi and Nuapada districts during the last three years are at Annexure-I

(c) & (d): At present, there is no proposal under the Rural Self- Employment Training Institutes (RSETI) Scheme to establish dedicated Rural Business Incubation Centres, Entrepreneurship Facilitation Centres. However, the existing RSETIs in Kalahandi and Nuapada provide Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs), skill training, mentoring, and post-training hand-holding support to aspiring entrepreneurs, including women and Scheduled Tribe (ST) youth, to facilitate self-employment and the establishment of sustainable micro-enterprises. The performance of women and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates under the RSETIs during the last three years are at Annexure-II(a) and Annexure- II (b).

Further, RSETI is a demand-driven scheme; hence, funds are not allocated State-wise. However, funds are released to the State for all categories altogether, including women, directly to the respective States/UTs. The details of funds released under the RSETI programme

to the State of Odisha during the last three years are as follows: ₹1,250.76 lakh in 2023–24, ₹1,464.00 lakh in 2024–25, and ₹2,119.86 lakh in 2025–26. Thus, a total of ₹4,834.62 lakh has been released to the State during the said period.

Also Under the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme

(SVEP) umbrella, entrepreneurship facilitation support is being expanded in the concerned districts. In 2026-27, Kesinga Block of Page 2 of 6Kalahandi district has been selected under SVEP. The programme will support approximately 2,400 micro enterprises over a period of four years, with a provision of about ₹6.50 crore for implementation.

Further, Dharmagarh Block in Kalahandi district and Boden Block in Nuapada district have been selected under the Micro Enterprise Development (MED) Programme under the SVEP umbrella. These blocks will be supported for a period of eighteen months, during which around 200 micro and nano enterprises will be supported in each block. An amount of ₹20 lakh per block has been provisioned towards capacity building, handholding and administrative support.

Working capital support will be provided through the Community Investment Fund (CIF) available with the Gram Panchayat Level Federations (GPLFs), supplemented through bank linkage.

Enterprises in sectors such as agriculture, millets, forest produce, handicrafts and other local livelihood activities will be promoted under these interventions. ***** Page 3 of 6ANNEXURE-I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY OF PART (a) & (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3842 ANSWERED ON 11.08.2026 REGARDING “Promoting Entrepreneurship among Rural Youth”.

FY SBI SBI Nuapada Kalah andi Traine Settled Self - Trained Settled Self - d employed employed 2023-24 700 561 561 644 580 580 2024-25 1000 802 802 918 830 830 2025-26 1002 728 728 927 687 685 Page 4 of 6ANNEXURE-II(a) ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY OF PART (c) & (d) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3842 ANSWERED ON 11.08.2026 REGARDING “ Promoting Entrepreneurship among Rural Youth”.

The Performance of Women Candidates under RSETIs FY SBI Kalahandi SBI Nuapada Trained Settled Self-employed Trained Settled Self-employed 2023-24 574 497 497 499 525 525 2024-25 879 743 743 769 710 710 2025-26 924 703 703 764 575 573 Page 5 of 6ANNEXURE-II(b) ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY OF PART (c) & (d) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3842 ANSWERED ON 11.08.2026 REGARDING “Promoting Entrepreneurship among Rural Youth”.

Performance of Scheduled Tribe (ST) Candidates under RSETIs FY SBI Kalahandi SBI Nuapada Trained Settled Self-employed Trained Settled Self-employed 2023-24 241 181 181 230 193 193 2024-25 229 215 215 256 215 215 2025-26 238 184 184 286 199 199 ***** Page 6 of 6