BENGALURU: The Government of Karnataka on Saturday launched ‘Airavata Scheme’, a first-of-its-kind scheme that will create more self-employment opportunities and boost livelihood options for rural and semi-urban youth. Targeted especially at the young men and women of SC/ST communities, the scheme will provide training, mentoring, financial assistance and industry partnerships for a secure livelihood.
In the first phase, the department has signed an agreement 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 the state government in identifying eligible candidates from the SC/ST community from the Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru and Hubli 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 during the first phase of this scheme and will scale it up across the state in the future.
Social Welfare Minister Priyank Kharge expressed hope that more and more youth from the marginalized 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.
Pradeep Parameswaran, President, Uber India & South Asia said, “Uber is committed to partnering with the Government of Karnataka and equipping all sections of society with the resources to chart their entrepreneurial journey on the app. With this initiative, the Government of Karnataka has once again demonstrated its intent to partner for progress and incentivize skills building and entrepreneurship. As a multi-modal platform, we believe that technology holds the key to creating millions of economic opportunities while solving mobility, security, and congestion. We commend the Karnataka government for their progressive vision in this regard”
Interested candidates can apply by downloading the application forms from www.kalyanakendra.com and www.adcl.karnataka.gov.in. These forms will be available on the site from 2nd October to 31st October, 2018.
