Executive Summary:
The Ministry of Minority Affairs addresses a question regarding special schemes for women from minority communities. The Ministry is implementing Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) which converges five erstwhile schemes focused on socio-economic empowerment through skill development, entrepreneurship, leadership, and education support. The response details the schemes and the number of women who have benefitted so far. PM VIKAS has commenced recently.
Key Points / Main Content:
* **PM VIKAS Scheme:**
* A Central Sector Scheme by the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
* Focuses on socio-economic empowerment of six notified minority communities.
* Achieves this through skill development, entrepreneurship, leadership of minority women, and education support for school dropouts.
* It converges five previously existing schemes: Seekho Aur Kamao, Nai Manzil, Nai Roshni, USTTAD, and Hamari Dharohar.
* **Seekho aur Kamao (SAK):**
* Started in 2013-14.
* Aimed to upgrade skills of minority youth (14-45 years) in modern and traditional skills.
* Provided skills for employment or self-employment.
* Approximately 4.68 lakh beneficiaries were trained.
* **Nai Manzil:**
* Started in 2015.
* Targeted minority youth without formal school leaving certificates.
* Provided formal education (Class VIII or X) and skills training.
* Aimed to improve employment opportunities and livelihoods.
* 98,712 beneficiaries were trained.
* **Nai Roshni:**
* Launched in 2012-13.
* Leadership Development Programme for Minority Women (18-65 years).
* Empowered women by providing knowledge, tools, and techniques for interacting with Government systems, banks, and other institutions.
* Included six-day non-residential/five-day residential training.
* Approximately 4,35,125 beneficiaries were trained, all women.
* **USTTAD:**
* Started in 2015.
* Targeted capacity building and upgrading traditional skills of master craftspersons/artisans.
* Approximately 21,611 beneficiaries were trained.
* **Beneficiary Statistics:**
* Provides state-wise data for the number of women who benefitted under Seekho Aur Kamao, Nai Manzil, USTTAD, and Nai Roshni schemes.
Impact Analysis:
* **Minority Women:**
* Impact: Benefit from skill development, leadership training, education, and increased self-employment opportunities.
* Action Required: Participate in the schemes and utilize the acquired skills for personal and economic growth.
* **Minority Youth:**
* Impact: Enhanced skill set, better education, and improved employment prospects.
* Action Required: Enroll in relevant training programs and leverage the opportunities for career advancement.
* **Master Craftspersons/Artisans:**
* Impact: Capacity building and upgrading of traditional skills.
* Action Required: Engage in USTTAD scheme to enhance expertise and preserve traditional crafts.
* **Government (Ministry of Minority Affairs):**
* Impact: Responsible for effective implementation and monitoring of the PM VIKAS scheme and its components.
* Action Required: Ensure proper execution of the scheme and track the progress of beneficiaries.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Minority Affairs: The Indian government ministry responsible for policies and programs concerning minority communities.
Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS): A Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Minority Affairs that converges five erstwhile schemes to focus on socioeconomic empowerment of six notified minority communities.
Seekho Aur Kamao: A skill development scheme, now converged into PM VIKAS, aimed at upgrading the skills of minority youth to enhance their employability or self-employment opportunities.
Nai Manzil: A scheme, now converged into PM VIKAS, designed to benefit minority youth without formal school leaving certificates by providing a combination of formal education and skills training.
Nai Roshni: A Leadership Development Programme for Minority Women, now converged into PM VIKAS, aimed at empowering and instilling confidence among minority women.
USTTAD: A scheme, now converged into PM VIKAS, targeting capacity building and upgrading of the traditional skills of master craftspersons and artisans.
Andhra Pradesh: A state in India where the Seekho Aur Kamao, Nai Manzil, USTTAD, and Nai Roshni schemes have been implemented.
Bihar: A state in India where the Seekho Aur Kamao, Nai Manzil, USTTAD, and Nai Roshni schemes have been implemented.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †4573
ANSWERED ON 20.08.2025
SPECIAL SCHEMES FOR WOMEN BELONGING TO MINORITY COMMUNITY
†4573. SMT. GENIBEN NAGAJI THAKOR:
Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government is running any special schemes to provide self-employment
opportunities, education and health services to the women belonging to minority community;
(b) if so, the name of such major schemes; and
(c) the number of women who have benefitted so far under the said schemes, State-wise?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS
(SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)
(a) and (b): The Ministry of Minority Affairs is implementing Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka
Samvardhan (PM VIKAS), a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry which converges five
erstwhile schemes viz. Seekho Aur Kamao, Nai Manzil, Nai Roshni, USTTAD and
HamariDharohar schemes and focuses on socio-economic empowerment of six notified
minority communities through skill development; entrepreneurship and leadership of
minority women; and education support for school dropouts. Skill training was provided to
youth from minority communities to increase employment and livelihood opportunities under
the ‘Seekho Aur Kamao’, ‘Nai Manzil’, ‘Nai Roshni’ and ‘USTTAD’ schemes, which have
now been converged into PM VIKAS scheme. A brief of these schemes along with
achievements made therein is as under:
(i) Seekho aur Kamao (SAK) scheme, started in 2013-14, targeted upgrading the skills of
minority youth (14-45 years) in various modern/ traditional skills depending upon their
qualification, prevailing economic trends, and market potential, that could earn them suitable
employment or make them suitably skilled to take up self-employment.
Since inception, about 4.68 lakh beneficiaries were trained under this scheme.
ii) Nai Manzil scheme started in 2015, and was implemented with an objective to benefit the
minority youth who do not have formal school leaving certificate. The scheme provided a
combination of formal education (Class VIII or X) and skills and enabled the beneficiaries to
seek better employment opportunity and livelihood. Since inception, 98,712 beneficiaries
were trained under this scheme.
iii) Nai Roshni scheme was a Leadership Development Programme for Minority Women and
was launched in 2012-13 with an objective to empower and instill confidence among
minority women by providing knowledge, tools and techniques for interacting with
Government systems, banks and other institutions at all levels. It was a six-days non-
residential/five-days residential training programme conducted for the women belonging to
minority community between the age group of 18 years to 65 years.Since inception, about
4,35,125 beneficiaries were trained under the scheme till date, and all were women.iv) USTTAD scheme started in 2015 and targeted capacity building and upgrading of the
traditional skills of master craftspersons/ artisans. Since inception, approx. 21,611
beneficiaries were trained under this scheme.
(c): The number of women who were benefitted under the above 4 schemes,are as below:
Seekho Aur
Name of States Nai Manzil USTTAD Nai Roshni
Kamao
Andaman & Nicobar 259 259
Andhra Pradesh 9845 682 325 6875
Arunachal Pradesh 989 427 625
Assam 9940 4276 1660 24500
Bihar 20378 4987 393 10000
Chandigarh 191
Chattisgarh 2200 1376 89 3000
Delhi 7251 1640 5 4925
Goa 386 343
Gujarat 5622 2278 90 3900
Haryana 7562 1032 149 2225
Himachal Pradesh 1659 413 133 500
Jammu and Kashmir 25385 4580 1819 2950
Jharkhand 10662 4176 501 5500
Karnataka 6356 1563 45 9875
Kerala 2157 1082 5700
Ladakh 2
Madhya Pradesh 26993 2500 1684 43975
Maharashtra 8424 746 602 7475
Manipur 2440 611 582 6975
Meghalaya 1419 1332 89 250
Mizoram 850 291
Nagaland 937 467 1700
Odisha 1469 920 6375
Puducherry 71
Punjab 20965 2821 579 3525
Rajasthan 6076 1069 692 18600
Sikkim 786 1379 400
Tamil Nadu 2999 2604 5200
Telangana 9329 174 1150
The Dadra and Nagar
Haveli and Daman and Diu 1
Tripura 1391 242 850
Uttar Pradesh 53518 6469 8365 237900
Uttarakhand 3684 379 11325
West Bengal 17921 3580 983 8850
Grand Total 270117 54233 19250 435125
Further, the implementation of PM VIKAS has commenced only recently.
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