The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) has launched an Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) scheme under the Skill India programme to train people at the village-level as a means to provide them livelihood, as many of them have returned to their native places due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The objective of the programme is to reduce the drudgery of people, living in rural and backward areas, in their daily lives by providing them new avenues of employment generation through the intervention of science and technology.
“The corporation had financed a sanitary napkin manufacturing unit in Nellore last year. Women members of a Self Help Group (SHG) came up with the proposal. Their plan was to sell the napkins to the SHG women. We provided the grant for purchase of the machinery and the raw material,” NRDC Chairman and Managing Director H. Purushottam said.
“Another entrepreneur has come up with a proposal to install a machine to separate coir from the coconut husk shell of a tender coconut, for making of doormats. This project proposal, as also a third project for making of reusable masks were also received from Nellore. The entrepreneurs will be provided training for periods ranging for 15 days to 1 month.”
“The entrepreneurs should be able to market their products, sustain their project, and provide some employment to the local people. We are getting most of the proposals from north India. The response from south India, particularly from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, is poor,” Mr. Purushottam said.
The budgetary support for each EDP will be up to ₹4 lakh and only one proposal will be considered from each organisation. The last date for submission of the proposal to NRDC is August, 31, 2020.
Full details can be obtained from the website: http://www.nrdcindia.com/latestdetails/12#