Vijayawada: The AP Minister for Industries and Commerce Mekapati Gowtham Reddy stating that, the Prime Minister’s vision for ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat.’ He felt that the time is right for India as a country to rapidly scale up the industry contribution to the GDP and improve the livelihoods of millions of county’s people.  Participating in a virtual meeting organised by Union Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday on “One District One Product”. He observed that the ODOP rightly addresses the problem and helps in creating entrepreneurs at the bottom of the pyramid and developing brands that could receive global recognition.

He also said that the State government has already started interventions to create opportunities for the rural population. The YSR Cheyuta scheme, aimed at empowering women, is the subject close to the heart of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Under it, Rs 18,750 per annum (for 4 years Rs 75,000) is the unconditional cash transfer to women from disadvantaged communities, benefiting more than 23 lakh across the State, he said.

“We have 8.20 lakh SHGs (85.48 lakh rural women) operating in our State. We will ensure that this cash will be put into productive use to create income streams for improved sustenance and livelihoods. We are creating synergies across the departments (SERP, MEPMA, Industries) to create opportunities for self-employment and the government is giving interest-free loans to the tune of Rs 650 crore per year for these SHGs,” he said. Stating that the State collaborated with ITC, P&G, Amul, HUL and other leading FMCG players to assure market linkages to the products of SHG women-led micro-enterprises, he said once SHGs have reached a level of maturity, the government will form clusters, Minister said.