SFURTI Scheme "EMPOWER IAS"

In news:

• Union Minister for MSME has inaugurated 50 artisan-based SFURTI clusters, spread over 18 States. SFURTI is an off-track scheme compared to other HRD schemes with Hindi acronyms. Similar is the SPARSH scheme for philately.

 

SFURTI:

• SFURTI is Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries.
• Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Govt. of India has launched this scheme in the year 2005 with the view to promote Cluster development.
• As per the revised guidelines, the following schemes are being merged into SFURTI:
• The Scheme for Enhancing Productivity and Competitiveness of Khadi Industry and Artisans
• The Scheme for Product Development, Design Intervention and Packaging (PRODIP)
• The Scheme for Rural Industries Service Center (RISC) and
• Other small interventions like Ready Warp Units, Ready to Wear Mission, etc.

 

Objectives of Scheme:

• To organize the traditional industries and artisans into clusters to make them competitive and provide support for their long-term
  sustainability and economy of scale.
• To provide sustained employment for traditional industry artisans and rural entrepreneurs;
• To enhance marketability of products of such clusters by providing support for new products, design intervention and improved packaging and also the improvement of marketing infrastructure;
• To equip traditional artisans of the associated clusters with the improved skills and capabilities through training and exposure visits;
• To strengthen the cluster governance systems with the active participation of the stakeholders, so that they are able to gauge the emerging challenges and opportunities and respond to them in a coherent manner;
• To build up innovated and traditional skills, improved technologies, advanced processes, market intelligence and new models of public – private partnerships, so as to gradually replicate similar models of cluster – based regenerated traditional industries
• To make a paradigm shift from a supply driven selling model to a market driven model with the right branding, focus product mix and correct positioning and right pricing to make the offering holistic and optimal for each of the focus categories.
• To tap the E-Commerce as a major marketing channel given the outreach and the growing market penetration of E-Commerce, the re is a need to devise a quick strategy to make its presence felt in the E – Retail space.

 

Types of clusters

• SFURTI clusters are of two types i.e., Regular Cluster (500 artisans) with Government assistance of up to Rs.2.5 crore and Major Cluster (more than 500 artisans) with Government assistance up to Rs.5 crore.
• The scheme focuses on strengthening the cluster governance systems with the active participation of the stakeholders so that they are able to gauge the emerging challenges and opportunities and respond to them.

 

Who can apply?

• Non-Government organizations (NGOs)
• Institutions of the Central and State Governments
• Semi-Government institutions
• Field functionaries of State and Central Govt.
• Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs)