588 rural self employment training institutes functioning in country: Govt

New Delhi: A total of 588 Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) promoted by banks are functioning across the country to extend skill and entrepreneurship development training programmes, Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The minister said these training programmes are being given to rural poor, unemployed youth to facilitate them to employ themselves by commencing self-employment units and activities.

Also read | UGC’s FYUP draft mindless cut-paste from foreign universities: Teachers’ body

"This ministry is reimbursing cost of training imparted by the RSETIs to the rural poor youth through the State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLMs), besides providing infrastructure grants to institutions," he said during the Question Hour.

Singh said since inception, a total of 40.31 lakh youths have been trained and 28.40 lakh youths have been settled up to February 28, 2022. He said the ministry is also implementing Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) as a sub-scheme under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) with the objective to help the rural poor set-up enterprises at the village level in non-agricultural sectors.

Also read | Free education to girls with family income less than Rs 1.8 lakh: Manohar Lal Khattar

"The operational unit of the project is block. A maximum of 2,400 enterprises can be supported in one block with the approved funds. The maximum budget for one block under SVEP is Rs 5.97 crore. A total of 1,97,168 enterprises across 23 states and UTs have been supported so far," he said.