Karnataka government which launched Airavatha scheme, with a budget of Rs 225 crore to boost employment opportunities for SC/ST youth, on Saturday signed an MoU with taxi hailing company Uber to create “industry owned private enterprise” for youth in tier 2, 3 cities and rural areas.

Driven by Karnataka's Social Welfare Ministry by partnering with industry is expected to boost livelihood programmes that will create more self-employment opportunities and boost livelihood options for rural and semi urban youth.

Job creation

"Targeted especially at the young men and women of SC/ST communities - the scheme will provide them training, mentoring, financial assistance and industry partnerships for a secure livelihood. Overall, the government is looking to invest over Rs 225 crore in the scheme, which will ensure job creation and economic development of the individuals," Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara.

He further said that these are the kind of schemes that would ensure job creation and boost economic development.

“This is a bold step, and a first of its kind programme. There cannot be development without job creation and I hope this Airavatha acts as a catalyst in Karnataka’s growth story, and I hope more partners like Uber join us as we take development to every part of the state.”

Through the Airavatha scheme, Karnatraka Government aims to foster partnerships with potential service providers and aggregators to provide opportunities to unemployed SC/ST youth to take up ownership of cabs and taxis under the scheme.

In the first phase, the department has signed an MoU with Uber, under which the government will provide a financial grant of Rs 5 Lakhs each to identified beneficiaries from the SC/ST community. Uber will be assisting government in identifying eligible candidates from the SC/ST community from the Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru and Hubballi cities of the state, especially in semi-urban areas, and encourage them to take advantage of this scheme.

Uber will also train beneficiaries, encourage them to register as driver partners on the Uber app, and thereby, provide access to entrepreneurial opportunities and viable earnings. Beneficiaries will also be provided with the necessary assistance to avail any additional loans from financial institutions.

In all, the government and Uber will identify and train 500 youth under the first phase of this scheme, and will scale it up across the state in the future.

Karnataka Social Welfare Minister Priyank Kharge, under whose department the scheme will be implemented expressed hope that more and more youth from the marginalised and vulnerable communities come forward and make use of the opportunity, and thus be a part of the tech and industrial revolution in the state.

People-oriented development

He said, “We in the Karnataka government are committed to people-oriented development. We are committed to provide the SC/ST community with the necessary resources to chart their success stories. With Uber, we will ensure economic opportunities and income levels in the tier 2 and tier 3 cities improves. This will, we hope, improve the standard of living for these families and the communities themselves, and people live better lives. We will take every effort to realise the potential and ambitions of our young people, and ensure that Karnataka is truly a state of growth.”

The goal is to promote a fleet of minimum 4,500 cabs / taxis in the State. Airavatha scheme will help to strategize the livelihood program of the Social Welfare department and eventually will leads to the economic empowerment of the concerned beneficiaries.

Explaining the scheme on the impact of the grants, Pradeep Parameswaran, President, Uber India & South Asia said, “Uber is committed to partnering with the Karnataka Government and equipping all sections of society with the resources to chart their entrepreneurial journey on the app. With this initiative, the Government has once again demonstrated its intent to partner for progress and incentivise skills building and entrepreneurship. As a multi-modal platform, we believe that technology holds the key to creating millions of economic opportunities while solving for mobility, security and congestion. We commend the Karnataka government for their progressive vision in this regard.”

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