Minister T. Raghumurthy.
Bengaluru: With the aim of providing employment opportunities to young men and women from Scheduled Tribes (ST), the Karnataka government is moving forward with a scheme to help them start fast-food truck trailers and mobile kitchen food kiosks, minister for ST welfare and Chitradurga district in-charge T. Raghumurthy said.
Under the entrepreneurship development scheme of corporations affiliated with the ST welfare department, eligible ST youth will get a subsidy of 75 per cent of the unit cost, up to a maximum of Rs 4 lakh, to set up these mobile food units. The scheme received Cabinet approval recently, after having been announced in an earlier budget by then chief minister Siddaramaiah. Raghumurthy said he pursued the matter after taking charge as ST welfare minister, in consultation with Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and department officials.
Department secretary M. Kanagavalli and department director Ashok D.R. said arrangements would be made to facilitate bank loans and disburse subsidies to eligible beneficiaries. The scheme will apply to all communities listed under the ST category in Karnataka, which has over 50 such communities, including Adivasis.
“This initiative will lead to the economic empowerment of the ST community. Importantly, compared to unregulated street vending, these standardised mobile units can provide better and higher-quality food. Our intention is that this scheme should help thousands of people, and that they, in turn, should generate employment for thousands more,” Raghumurthy said.
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