New Scheme for Women Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy has said that to cater to the needs of potential women entrepreneurs, who may not have adequate educational background and skills, the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development Organization (MSME-DO), has introduced process/product oriented Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) in areas like TV repairing, printer circuit boards, leather goods, screen printing etc. There are also several other schemes of the government like Income Generating Scheme, implemented by the Department of Women and Child Development, which provides assistance for setting up training-cum-income generating activities for needy women to make them economically independent. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today Shri Rudy said, the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has been implementing two special schemes for women viz; Mahila Udyam Nidhi which is an exclusive scheme for providing equity to women entrepreneurs and the Mahila Vikas Nidhi which offers developmental assistance for pursuit of income generating activities to women. Further, SIDBI has also taken initiative to set up an informal channel for credit needs on soft term giving special emphasis to women including training for credit utilization and credit delivery skills for the executives of voluntary organizations working for women.
