The Government supports and facilitates the development and progress of the Agriculture sector through various Centrally Sponsored and Central Sector Schemes. All the schemes are targeted for benefiting farmers and increasing their livelihood opportunities by promoting agro based employment.
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) is implementing the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) with component schemes as – (i) Mega Food Park; (ii) Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure; (iii) Creation /Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities; (iv) Infrastructure for Agro-Processing Clusters; (v) Creation of Backward & Forward linkages; (vi) Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure; (vii) Human Resource and Institutions; (viii) Operation Greens.
As part of Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, MoFPI has launched an all India centrally sponsored ‘PM Formalization of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme’ for providing financial, technical, and business support for upgradation of micro food processing enterprises. The scheme with an outlay of Rs. 10,000 crores targets to directly assist two lakh micro food processing units with credit linked subsidy. Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has introduced a new component called Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship component under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana- Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied sector Rejuvenation (RKVY-RAFTAAR) with the objective to generate employment by promoting start-ups in agriculture and allied sector.
The government is also promoting agro-based business through Venture Capital Assistance (VCA) Scheme through Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC). Under the scheme assistance in the form of interest free loans is extended up to 26% of the promoter’s equity or Rs. 50 lakh to agripreneurs. Ministry of Tourism has taken several steps over the years to give a boost to the tourism sector in the country and in turn generate employment opportunities like the Swadesh Darshan Scheme with a vision to develop theme based tourist circuits, National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) Scheme for the holistic development of identified pilgrimage destinations, Heritage Project for development and maintenance of tourist amenities at heritage sites/ monuments and other tourist sites and Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Programme, etc.
Details of employment provided to unemployed youth in the industries based on agriculture and tourism are not maintained centrally. However, as per the results of the Regional Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) of all States/UTs for the reference year 2015-16 (Using figures of National Account Statistics with the base year 2011-12 of CSO) and its subsequent estimates, the contribution of tourism employment to total employment of the country during 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 was 12.20%, 12.13%, 12.75% respectively. This information was given by the Minister of State (I/C) for Labour & Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
