Over 80 artisans attended a PM Vishwakarma Scheme workshop on branding, marketing and business development in Dimapur.
DIMAPUR — A one-day awareness workshop on branding and marketing under the PM Vishwakarma Scheme was held at the Shilloi Lounge, Hotel Saramati, in Dimapur on Wednesday.
According to a DIPR report, the workshop was organised by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) through the MSME Development and Facilitation Office (MSME-DFO), Dimapur, in collaboration with the Department of Industries and Commerce and the District Industries Centre (DIC), Dimapur.
It witnessed participation from over 80 artisans from across the district.
The programme was designed to strengthen the entrepreneurial capabilities of PM Vishwakarma beneficiaries by providing practical knowledge and technical insights on product packaging, labelling and design, export development, financial literacy, business development, artificial intelligence (AI), e-commerce, and digital payment solutions.
Delivering the keynote address, Mohd. Ali Rahman, Director of MSME-DFO, Dimapur, highlighted the progress of the scheme and the support being extended to artisans for promoting and selling their products through digital marketplaces, including Meesho and Amazon.
He informed that more than 25,239 Vishwakarma are registered in Nagaland, out of which 4,590 have completed all three stages of verification to get the benefits. Around 1,900 have been trained in their respective trades, 884 toolkits have been delivered, and 419 loans worth INR 4.07 crore have been sanctioned, out of which 404 loans worth INR 3.91 crore have been disbursed. Additionally, 33 artisans have been onboarded on the Meesho online shopping site and a few on Amazon.
The first technical session on "Product packaging, labelling and design" was conducted by Imliakum, Founder of Nagaland Paper and Packaging Hub, who explained different types of packaging and their suitability for various products.
The session on "Export development" was conducted by Kiyelu T Yeptho, Functional Manager of DIC Dimapur, who familiarised participants with the fundamentals of export readiness.
A hands-on session on financial literacy was conducted by Paweii Kayina, Founder of Moneybar, who discussed different approaches to money and the importance of intentional financial management. This was followed by an interaction with Talinaro Longchar, Lead District Manager of State Bank of India, Dimapur, who addressed queries relating to banking facilities, credit, and loan applications and handed over loan sanction letters to eight PM Vishwakarma artisans.
The business development session was delivered by Thepfukedo Mere, a financial analyst for the RAMP Scheme at DIC Dimapur, who highlighted integrated business growth planning, financial management, and networking for enterprise sustainability.
The workshop also focused on digitalisation, with Rahul Suman and Mithun Kumar Biswas of India Post Payments Bank, Dimapur, conducting a demonstration on QR code generation.
An interactive session on artificial intelligence and e-commerce onboarding was subsequently conducted by the State Programme Management Unit (SPMU), PM Vishwakarma, introducing participants to emerging digital technologies and their applications.
The PM Vishwakarma Scheme offers a toolkit incentive of up to INR 15,000 in the form of e-vouchers at the beginning of basic skill training. For enterprise development, beneficiaries can avail of collateral-free loans of up to INR 3 lakh in two tranches of INR 1 lakh and INR 2 lakh at a concessional fixed interest rate of 5 per cent.
To encourage digital payments, an incentive of INR 1 per digital transaction, up to a maximum of 100 transactions per month, is credited to the beneficiary’s account. The scheme also extends marketing support through quality certification, branding, and onboarding of artisans on e-commerce platforms such as the Government e-Marketplace (GeM).
The scheme covers 18 traditional trades, including carpenter, potter, boat maker, armourer, blacksmith, hammer and toolkit maker, locksmith, goldsmith, sculptor, mason, barber, garland maker, washerman, tailor, fishing net maker, basket weaver, doll and toy maker, and cobbler.