The Tamil Nadu government has rejected the implementation of the PM Vishwakarma Central scheme, launched in 2023. In a letter, dated November 27, addressed to Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Jitan Ram Manjhi, Chief Minister M K Stalin said Tamil Nadu will have its own scheme that is more “inclusive” and does not “discriminate on the basis of caste”.
A day later, on Thursday, Tamil Nadu MP and Stalin’s sister K Kanimozhi reiterated to the media in New Delhi that the DMK-led government had rejected the scheme. “The scheme resurrects caste and clan systems in which children should take up the profession of their parents. We cannot accept it,” she said.
What is the Vishwakarma scheme?
Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2023, the Vishwakarma scheme is aimed at providing “end-to-end support for artisans and craftspeople who work with their hands and tools”. The scheme covers artisans engaged in 18 trades, from carpentry, sculpture and boat making to pottery, toy making and tailoring.
The stated benefits of the scheme include recognition of artisans through ID cards and skill upgradation through training programmes that extends from five to 15 days with a daily stipend of Rs 500. The beneficiaries are also eligible for a Rs 15,000 incentive to buy tools, and loans of up to Rs 3 lakh at a concessional interest rate of 5%. The scheme also provides for a digital transaction incentive of Re 1 per transaction for up to 100 transactions, which will be directly credited to the account of the beneficiary. As per the scheme, marketing support will also be provided to the artisans.
Why is it facing criticism?
The scheme, however, has drawn criticism for a mandatory clause included in its implementation.
As per the scheme, every applicant should declare that his or her profession or trade is “a family profession acquired through guru-shishya tradition”. Meaning, only those who have taken up the profession of their parents or family alone will be beneficiaries of the scheme.
“As per clause 14 of the application manual, the scheme requires that artisans should have acquired the craft from their parents or relatives through an unpaid apprenticeship or guru-shishya apprenticeship. Such unpaid labour is mandated by the caste system, where certain professions are linked only to certain castes and are perpetuated by family ties,” DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai told The Indian Express.
How has the Tamil Nadu government opposed the scheme?
In a letter addressed to the PM on January 4 this year, CM Stalin asked for three modifications to the scheme.
Firstly, the letter argued that “the mandatory need for the applicant’s family to be traditionally engaged in a family-based traditional trade be removed” and suggested that “any person pursuing any of the occupations listed in the guidelines should be eligible for assistance under the scheme”.
Stalin also asked for the minimum age criterion to be changed from 18 to 35 years. “The minimum age criterion can be increased to 35 years so that only those who have made an informed choice to continue their family trade can avail of benefits under this scheme”.
The CM also wrote that the state government wanted beneficiaries to be verified by a Village Administrative Officer of the Revenue Department instead of the head of the Gram Panchayat.
While Manjhi replied to this letter in March 2024, no modifications were made to the scheme, according to the state government. “As the modifications were not accepted by the Union government, the government of Tamil Nadu decided not to implement the scheme,” Annadurai said.
What does the state government plan to do instead?
As per Stalin’s November 27 letter to Manjhi, Tamil Nadu will implement another scheme to “empower artisans… under the overall principle of social justice”.
This scheme, which is yet to be launched by the state government, will be “a more inclusive and comprehensive scheme for artisans, which does not discriminate based on caste”, as per the letter.
The Centre, however, is yet to respond to this latest letter.
Have Tamil Nadu and the Centre clashed in the past?
The Vishwakarma scheme is not the only issue of contention between the DMK-led state government and the BJP-led Centre.
Tamil Nadu, with the history of its Dravidian movement, has long been opposed to what it views as the “imposition of Hindi”. In 2022, Stalin wrote to Modi stating the imposition of Hindi was both “impractical and divisive”. This was in response to a parliamentary panel’s recommendation that the medium of instruction in national institutes, including Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Hindi-speaking states should be Hindi. But, Stalin pointed out, such institutions enrol students from across the country.
The Tamil Nadu government had also sought an exemption for its students from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), calling the exam discriminatory towards rural students who cannot afford coaching classes.
The Tamil Nadu government has also opposed the Centre’s “discrimination” against southern states in devolution of taxes. According to the state government, the Centre has been devolving less in taxes to the southern states, including Tamil Nadu, for “performing better” financially.
In the long list of Tamil Nadu’s tiffs with the Centre, there is also the stand-off between the state government and Governor R N Ravi. According to Stalin’s government, Ravi has not cleared several Bills passed by the state Assembly.
