Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) is implemented by Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana — National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Ministry of Rural Development, as a sub-scheme since 2016. The objective of SVEP is to support the rural poor to come out of poverty, supporting them set up enterprises and providing support till the enterprises stabilise. SVEP focuses on providing self-employment opportunities with financial assistance and training in business management and soft skills while creating local community cadres for the promotion of enterprises.

Kerala has set up 25,602 enterprises in the last five years (2018-19 to May 2022), followed by Bihar ( 18,207), Madhya Pradesh (17,138), Jharkhand ( 15,797) and Uttar Pradesh ( 14,974). These top five States have 49 per cent of the total enterprises established during the last five years. 

The Northeastern States – Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Manipur have established less than 1000 enterprises during this period. Punjab has established 1,750 enterprises, Uttarakhand -1,838, Jammu and Kashmir -1,966 Assam -2435, and Maharashtra -2,688. Nagaland ( 2,916) has established more enterprises than Maharashtra and other States in the list of bottom ten States.    

Covid-19 pandemic 

The data presented by the Ministry of Rural Development to the Lok Sabha this week shows that 57,209 enterprises came up during 2020-21 and 41,623 enterprises in 2021-22 when India was grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Ministry, SHG women shouldered the responsibilities of the situation and emerged as a strong task force in producing several quality products like masks, protective gear kits, sanitizers and hand wash. “Products were procured and distributed by the local administration to various stakeholders. While addressing the need, these SHG rural women entrepreneurs set up an example of themselves and earned an additional income”, the Ministry states.  

SVEP impact

A mid-term review of SVEP which was conducted in September 2019 by the Quality Council of India shows about 82 per cent of the sampled entrepreneurs across the blocks were from SC, ST and OBC categories. About 75 per cent of the enterprises were owned and managed by women and the average monthly revenue of enterprises was ₹39,000 - ₹47,800 in case of manufacturing, ₹41,700 in case of services, and₹36,000 in case of trading. 

The study also shows that about 57 per cent of the total household income of the entrepreneurs is through SVEP enterprises. The average gross income of the entrepreneurs is higher than the aspirational income stated by them from the enterprise at the time of starting it. Around 96 per cent of the entrepreneurs reported an enhancement in savings, while 70 per cent of the entrepreneurs interviewed reported that taking loans from Community Enterprise Fund (CEF) was easy.

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