IANS
Noida, April 5
To boost entrepreneurship among the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women by facilitating loans in the range of Rs.10 lakh to Rs.1 crore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched the Stand Up India initiative and said it will transform the lives of Dalits and Adivasis. Modi said people from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes can perform as well as others if given the opportunity. “Our tribal brethren and those belonging to Scheduled Castes will perform equally well as us if they are provided with the opportunities. How long will they wait for jobs and to which extent the government can give them jobs? God has given equal power and strength to Dalits as to us,” Modi said.
He said the scheme will convert “job-seekers into job-creators” and will also change their lives.
“We got the opportunity but they were denied it. If we can perform on getting an opportunity, they can also perform,” Modi said, advocating equal opportunities for people belonging to the Scheduled Castes.
Referring to Dalits, he said “they should not depend on someone’s mercy”.
“Dalit youths should aspire to become entrepreneurs and businessmen. They can easily avail loans from the Mudra Bank now,” Modi said.
“Our poor have rich hearts. We asked them to open bank accounts with zero balance but they said they will contribute something or the other. The poor deposited Rs.50, Rs.100 in these accounts and the government got Rs.35,000 crore through the Jan Dhan Yojana.”
He said Stand Up India will help in creating 2.5 lakh entrepreneurs as every bank branch will provide two such loans without collateral for setting up a new enterprise.
Paying tributes to former deputy prime minister and defence minister Babu Jagjivan Ram, Modi said the government was launching the Stand Up India campaign on his birth anniversary.
