Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai has on Sunday said that the government had come up with the concept of Youth and Small Entrepreneurs Self-Employment Programme in order to propel the country towards the path of industrialization.

“The prime tenet of the programme is to bring economic revolution by equipping unemployed youths and small entrepreneurs with necessary capital as well as professional skills”, said Dr Bhattarai while speaking at a discussion programme on “Youth and Small Entrepreneurs Self-Employment” held by Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

Stating that the government has earmarked Rs 500 million for the conduct of the programme, he also admitted that weak and excessively mechanical bureaucracy has somewhat inhibited the smooth running of the programme across the country.

“Of course, the programme is facing certain snags due to administrative weakness and lack of adequate technical knowledge about the programme. So, the government will again issue circulars to the concerned bodies in order to ensure efficiency in the conduct of it,” he said while responding to queries from representatives of FNCCI from various districts of the country.

Kush Kumar Joshi, president, FNCCI, opined that the effective conduct of the self-employment programme could well help in developing industries in rural areas of the country. He also bemoaned that the dearth of strong inter-ministerial coordination was hampering the smooth running of the programme.

Krishna Prasad Tamrakar, vice-president, FNCCI, said that hundreds of youths selected for training under the programme have been facing unnecessary hassles.

“A large number of youths selected under the programme lack proper education and traditional skills. But, the amount allocated for the purpose of imparting training to them is low. So, the ministry of finance must take this problem seriously,” he said. nepalnews.com Apr 12 09