Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday took a swipe at previous governments, alleging they had no time for artisans as they were busy organising the Saifai Mahotsav, bringing dancers from Mumbai and celebrating birthdays with a buggy from Birmingham.
“When governments were busy organising mahotsavs in Saifai, bringing dancers from Mumbai and celebrating birthdays with a buggy from Birmingham, where would they get time to think about artisans? “They had no time to think about swadeshi and self-reliance. The decision to provide a stipend was taken keeping in mind that artisans worked daily to support their families. The government will bear the interest burden, while artisans will not have to provide a guarantee.
He also launched the Vishwakarma Swarozgar and Swadeshi Mela-2026. Adityanath said the One District One Product (ODOP) scheme was implemented on UP Diwas in 2018, while the Vishwakarma Shram Samman Yojana was launched in 2019. Adityanath said the government now provides 10 days of free training, a stipend of ₹ 5,000 and a toolkit worth ₹ 15,000 on completion of training. Under the Chief Minister Yuva Udyami Yojana, young people are eligible for interest-free and guarantee-free loans of up to ₹ 5 lakh, while the limit for artisans is ₹ 10 lakh, with 10-15% margin money, the CM said. MSME minister Bhupendra Chaudhary said Vishwakarma 2.0 would provide modern technology, training and financial assistance to artisans.
Speaking at an event at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan on Vishwakarma Jayanti and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, Adityanath said his government had focused on promoting “swadeshi” and self-reliance by linking traditional skills with training, credit and markets. Adityanath said. Banks will provide the loans, with the government taking responsibility for the interest, he said.
