SIDBI ties up with NGO to create livelihoods for youth in Almora. Few years ago, Harendra Bist was unemployed . Hailing from Danya, a backward village in Almora district of Uttarakhand, Bist recently took a bank loan of Rs 1.5 lakh and set up a candle-making unit.
Now, Bist has not only been able to support his family but also provide employment to three other youth of the village in his unit.
Not very far off from where Bist lives, the story of Anand Singh Dhela of Lamgarha village is no different. Unable to make ends meet, Dhela also took a soft loan of Rs 60,000 and set up a pickle and juice unit at his village. And now Dhela is living a comfortable life.
Welcome to the Rural Industrialisation programme (RIP), an innovative social scheme of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in the district of Almora in Uttarakhand.
"RIP is a comprehensive enterprise support service programme for the benefit of entrepreneurs and aims at promoting viable rural enterprises leading to employment generation in rural areas," says Sanjay N Gowan, deputy general manager (DGM), SIDBI, Dehra Dun.
SIDBI chose the hilly region of Almora because in these areas rural unemployment and under-utilisation of local resources remain one of the most daunting tasks for all concerned.
"The gainful utilisation of large number of local resources in hilly but remote areas like Almora by harnessing locally available skills, poses a challenging task to policy makers," said Gowan.
Unemployment, migration of youth to urban areas and under-utilisation of resources continue to ruin the backward areas of Almora.
Recognising the need for development of viable and self-sustaining tiny enterprises, SIDBI roped in the Centre for Bharatiya Marketing Development (CBMD), a Delhi-based NGO, to implement the RIP scheme in Almora.
Imparting training and developing entrepreneur skills among youth was the main task of CBMD, which also helped people in getting loans from various banks.
Eco-tourism and adventure-activity projects like river-rafting and rock-climbing were a success with the youth. Photography, videography studios, cyber cafes, small dhabas, repair shops, beauty parlours, basket-making, bakery units, tailoring shops and dairies are the other small enterprises which have now come up in Almora through this scheme.
Under the programme, CBMD also provided counselling support for identification and selection of suitable projects.
So far, nearly 200 new units have been set up in Almora since the scheme was launched, three years ago. SIDBI officials claimed that all these units have created 450 jobs.
SIDBI extends start-up support to meet the initial expenses of the implementing agency on a reducing scale spread over a period of three years. During the period, efforts are made for establishing sustainable and long-term marketing network and linkages.
