AGARTALA, March 1 (TIWN): Placing the budget on Monday, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said that Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs are beginning to show great promise in starting and running successful business enterprises. The Prime Minister had given a call for promoting entrepreneurship among
SC/ST to become job providers rather than job seekers.

The Union Cabinet has approved the "Stand Up India Scheme" to promote entrepreneurship among SC/ST and women, Rs 500 crores has been provided for this purpose.

The Scheme will facilitate at least two such projects per bank branch, one for each category of entrepreneur. This will benefit at least 2.5 lakh entrepreneurs.

The government has allocated Rs 500 crore for scheduled caste, scheduled tribes and women entrepreneurs in the annual budget under the Stand Up India scheme, finance minister Arun Jaitley announced on Monday.

The schemes for welfare and skill development for Minorities such as Multi-sectoral Development Programme and USTAAD shall be implemented effectively.

125th Birth Anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is the Year of Economic Empowerment for SC/ST entrepreneurs. Jaitley extensively interacted with the Dalit India Chamber of Commerce and Industry on building an entrepreneurship eco-system. It is proposed to constitute a National Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Hub in the MSME Ministry in partnership with industry associations. This Hub will provide professional support to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs to fulfil the obligations under the Central Government procurement policy 2012 adopt global best practices and leverage the Stand Up India initiative.

Some of the projects that given emphasis are- roads, port facilities, power plants- hydroelectricity and solar, electricity, improved accessibility to potable water, improved facilities at hospitals, development of educational infrastructure, promote start-up and entrepreneurial ventures in the North-East region.

The Union Budget 2016-17 came good on FM Arun Jaitley’s promise to continue the government’s public spending push in North-East India and the Budget has strengthen the growth boosters in this region.