Gatidhara: State Govt to empower 8,000 more youths by Dec 31

Kolkata, Sep 16: The West Bengal Government has decided to empower 8,000 more youths by December 31, 2017 through its Gatidhara Scheme. Thus many more among the unemployed would find a sustainable source of living. Through the scheme, the government provides loans on easy instalment basis to enable people to buy cars, small trucks, etc. for commercial use. The State Transport Department, which runs the scheme, has set the deadline of December 31. Gatidhara Scheme is one of the dream projects of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. So far, 15,700 people have benefitted out of it. This includes the 2,000 who received their sanction letters on September 13. A target has been set to benefit 10,000 unemployed youth through the Gatidhara Scheme during the financial year 2017-18, for which Rs 94 lakh has been sanctioned. This would be the first time since the scheme was launched during the 2015-16 fiscal that 10,000 people would be benefitted. It may be recalled that during the 2015-16 fiscal, 5,200 people were benefitted, which rose to 8,500 during the 2016-17. Under the scheme, the State Government gives a financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh to a beneficiary to buy a vehicle. The process of the sanctioning of Rs 1 lakh starts once the road permit is given after an interview at the STA. The beneficiary usually deposits the amount as the initial payment to a bank that provides the rest of the amount as loan for the vehicle that has to be used for commercial purposes. Moreover, the Transport Department, under the Gatidhara Scheme, has also made it possible to go for online applications to get luxury car permits from the State Transport Authority (STA), making the process of application simpler. UNI