PM Vishwakarma Yojana in Vidarbha: What’s Working and What’s Missing

thenewsdirt
Aug 5
13 min read

In the tribal villages of Vidarbha, artisans still practise age-old crafts, from weaving lustrous Tussar silk sarees to carving bamboo baskets, much as their forebears did.

This region of eastern Maharashtra has a rich artisan heritage, exemplified by the famous Karvati Tussar silk sarees that even earned a Geographical Indication tag in 2017. Communities like the Gonds have long honed skills in wood carving and bamboo work largely for personal use.

Until recently, however, these traditional crafts and craftsmen saw little formal support or market exposure. The Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Yojana (PM Vishwakarma), launched in 2023, set out to change that. This flagship scheme promises to bolster such artisans, many from adivasi and other marginalised groups, with modern training, easy credit and new market linkages. Nearly two years into its rollout, the scheme’s impact in Vidarbha presents a mixed picture.

There have been notable first steps in recognising and upskilling local artisans, yet significant gaps and challenges remain in translating this policy push into lasting prosperity on the ground.

Vidarbha’s Craft Heritage and the Vishwakarma Initiative

Vidarbha’s crafts are diverse and deeply rooted in local culture. The region’s handloom weaving tradition, for instance, has thrived on wild Tussar silk found in forests of Bhandara and Gondia districts.

Weavers here produce the renowned Karvati kinar sarees with distinctive saw-tooth borders, textiles so unique that they received official GI status in 2017.

Such recognition has helped spotlight and preserve Vidarbha’s silk-weaving techniques in the face of mechanised competition.

Likewise, tribal artisans among the Gond community possess generations-old knowledge of woodcraft and bamboo craft, creating items like carved combs, tobacco boxes, mats and winnows for daily use and ceremonies.

Historically, these skills were seldom commercialised; only recently have programmes begun training Gond artisans to adapt their crafts for wider markets. Against this backdrop, the PM Vishwakarma Yojana was introduced as a comprehensive support system for traditional workers across India’s unorganised sector.

With an outlay of ₹13,000 crore over five years, the scheme aims to uplift about 30 lakh artisan families engaged in 18 specified trades ranging from carpenters and potters to barbers and basket-weavers.

Crucially, many of these trades are prevalent in Vidarbha’s rural and tribal communities, such as blacksmithing (lohar), pottery (kumhar), mat and broom making, tailoring, and others that local families have practised for generations.

Under PM Vishwakarma, traditional craftspeople are formally recognised as “Vishwakarmas” through ID cards and certificates. They receive skill training (5–7 days basic, plus 15+ days advanced) with a daily stipend, a toolkit grant of ₹15,000 to upgrade equipment, access to collateral-free loans at 5% interest (up to ₹1 lakh initially and ₹2 lakh in a second tranche), as well as incentives for digital transactions and marketing support to connect them with broader value chains.

The intent is both economic and cultural, to improve artisans’ earnings and productivity while also preserving India’s rich heritage of handmade goods. “Our objective is respect for the traditional crafts, empowerment of artisans and prosperity for Vishwakarmas,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi affirmed at the scheme’s launch.

He has often described these skilled workers as the backbone of India, lamenting that colonial policies and post-independence neglect had pushed many crafts to decline.

By officially designating and supporting Vishwakarma artisans, the government has signalled that trades once passed down quietly in villages should be celebrated as integral to India’s economy and identity.

In Vidarbha, where entire communities depend on such crafts, this initiative arrived as a hopeful sign that the state would finally invest in their skills.

On the Ground: Implementation and Impact in Vidarbha

In its first year, PM Vishwakarma has made its presence felt in Vidarbha and Maharashtra at large. The scheme saw enthusiastic enrollment nationwide, and Maharashtra emerged among the top contributor states.

By mid-2025, nearly 2.71 crore applications had been received across India, out of which about 30 lakh artisans were successfully registered, essentially hitting the initial target of 30 lakh. Maharashtra accounted for roughly 10.4% of these registrations.

At a grand anniversary event in Wardha (in Vidarbha), over 20 lakh individuals across 18 traditional skills had been connected to PM Vishwakarma nationally, and more than 8 lakh had already completed some form of skill upgradation training.

In Maharashtra alone, upwards of 60,000 artisans received training during that inaugural year. Many of these trainees hailed from Vidarbha’s districts, given the region’s large concentration of weavers, carpenters, potters and other eligible craftsmen.

The Wardha event itself saw Modi symbolically disburse loans to 18 beneficiaries representing each of the 18 trades, as part of over ₹1,400 crore in credit that had been sanctioned under the scheme within the first year. By late 2024, government data showed some 10.8 lakh artisans had undergone skill training under PM Vishwakarma nationwide, with the scheme reaching deep into rural areas.

Notably, nearly 40% of the trainees were women, including many taking up traditional crafts like bamboo work, doll-making and fishnet weaving that are common among Vidarbha’s communities.

Thousands of trainees belong to Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes, reflecting the scheme’s focus on historically marginalised groups. Of those trained in the first year, about 87,600 were from ST communities and 1.95 lakh from SC communities, alongside over 5.8 lakh from Other Backwards Classes.

Concrete support has also started flowing to artisans in the form of tools and funds. By November 2024, around 12 lakh craftspeople had qualified for new toolkits and received the ₹15,000 equipment vouchers meant to modernise their operations. In addition, loans totalling ₹132 crore had been disbursed by that time to help artisans expand their businesses, with ₹552 crore sanctioned for approved applicants.

In Vidarbha’s context, this means many local carpenters, cobblers, tailors and others are now upgrading old tools and investing in better raw materials or workshop improvements. The region has seen outreach events to boost these efforts.

In December 2024, Nagpur hosted a three-day PM Vishwakarma exhibition that brought together local artisans and small entrepreneurs.

Organised by the MSME Development Office, the fair showcased products made by Vidarbha’s Vishwakarma beneficiaries and facilitated direct sales to the public. “This platform can create robust market linkages for our Vishwakarma entrepreneurs,” noted Mohan Mate, a local legislator, at the inauguration, urging residents to support artisans by purchasing their wares. Officials from institutions like MGIRI (Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Rural Industrialisation) and COSIA (Chamber of Small Industries) also attended, underscoring a collaborative push to integrate these craftsmen into the formal economy.

An MSME officer explained how the scheme’s mechanism is transforming skilled workers into independent entrepreneurs, not only through training and loans, but by offering marketing assistance and product development support across those 18 trades.

Such initiatives indicate that in hubs like Nagpur and Wardha, the scheme has begun to galvanise support networks for artisans.

Early success stories have emerged as well: women in some self-help groups took Vishwakarma-supported training in bamboo craft and quickly started small businesses, while young traditional barbers (nai) in a few villages reportedly pooled their toolkit grants to open modernised salons. These are small-scale examples, but they highlight the scheme’s potential to invigorate local craft livelihoods when implementation clicks.

Emerging Benefits and Success Stories

The initial rollout of PM Vishwakarma Yojana has delivered a dose of optimism to Vidarbha’s artisan communities. For the first time, many craftspeople feel their work is being formally valued by the state. “It’s about enabling women and artisans from all backgrounds to turn their craft into a viable livelihood,” says Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State for Skill Development, emphasising that the scheme is more than just skills training. Indeed, a striking feature has been the high participation of women in trades traditionally dominated by men.

In Maharashtra, officials noted that thousands of women from Vidarbha’s rural belts have signed up, some learning carpentry or blacksmithing techniques that their fathers or husbands alone used to do, others mastering intricate crafts like Warli-style painting on bamboo products.

This surge in women artisans is revitalising skills that had been quietly preserved in families. “We have seen more and more women opting for trades like boat making, cobbling, tool-making and locksmithing – revitalising these skills cherished for generations,” Minister Chaudhary told Times of India, pointing to a newfound confidence among female artisans to carry forward legacy crafts.

Another positive outcome has been the formal recognition and identity the programme confers. Receiving a Vishwakarma ID card and certificate has given artisans a sense of pride and inclusion. Local administrators in Vidarbha report that many craft workers who long operated in the informal shadows now feel seen by the system and can approach banks or markets with more legitimacy. The scheme’s emphasis on “dignity for labour”, aligning with Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals of shram evam samriddhi (labour leading to prosperity), has been well received. “Traditional skills and crafts are finally getting the respect they deserved,” Modi observed during the Wardha anniversary celebration, crediting the scheme for beginning to reverse decades of apathy towards village industries.

Pragmatically, the infusion of new tools and techniques is already helping some artisans improve their output. In Amravati district, a cluster of potters who underwent the Vishwakarma basic training reported a noticeable reduction in wastage and breakage after adopting the modern toolkits provided.

DD News reported that by the end of 2024, about 24.77 lakh artisans had registered under the scheme, and many had started using the improved methods taught during training to boost quality and production volume.

Meanwhile, market exposure is slowly expanding. Through tie-ups with the One District One Product initiative and government e-commerce platforms, products like Kolhapuri leather goods and handloom fabrics from Maharashtra are being promoted under the Vishwakarma banner. In Vidarbha, handicrafts such as bamboo furniture from Melghat and silk textiles from Chanderpur have featured in government-supported exhibitions and online catalogues, giving artisans access to new customers beyond their local haats. The government has also launched “Ekta Mall” outlets in some locations to retail traditional products.

These efforts, though nascent, hint at the value chain integration that PM Vishwakarma envisions, where a basket weaver in a Gond village could sell via a national portal, or a tailor in Nagpur could get bulk orders through an MSME network.

Furthermore, the scheme’s benefits seem to be reaching those most in need. By design, a majority of Vishwakarma beneficiaries come from backwards classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Data confirms this: as noted, over 5.8 lakh OBC, 1.95 lakh SC and 87,000 ST artisans were trained in the first year alone.

In Maharashtra, officials highlighted that 59,900 ST artisans and 1.3 lakh SC artisans were registered under the scheme, many of whom have now completed training and received toolkits.

Vidarbha, home to sizable tribal populations in districts like Gadchiroli, Yavatmal and Chandrapur, stands to benefit significantly from this inclusivity.

The focus on tribal crafts is evident: training modules have been adapted for skills like bamboo weaving and tribal embroidery, and outreach programs are working in remote blocks to enrol adivasi artisans. As a result, the scheme has started to inject resources into some of the poorest artisan communities.

A group of Kolam tribal women in Yavatmal, who traditionally weave leaf mats, got enrolled and have now formed a cooperative to market their products with assistance from the district PM Vishwakarma team.

Success stories like these remain modest in scale, but they underscore a critical point. The Yojana has opened a channel for grassroots artisans of Vidarbha to access formal support that simply did not exist before.

Challenges and Gaps in the Rollout in Vidarbha

Challenges and Gaps in the Rollout at PM Viashwakarma Scheme in Vidarbha — Challenges and Gaps in the Rollout

For all its promise, the implementation of PM Vishwakarma Yojana in Vidarbha and beyond has encountered significant challenges, exposing areas where the scheme has yet to deliver fully. One major concern has been the bottleneck in credit access.

While thousands of artisans applied for the subsidised loans, approvals have been sluggish and limited. By April 2025, out of nearly 14 lakh loan applications submitted under the scheme nationwide, only about 28% (3.9 lakh) had been sanctioned.

The rest were either rejected by banks or left pending, often due to strict eligibility criteria and paperwork issues. Many of the intended beneficiaries, rural artisans with patchy credit histories or prior loan defaults, are being screened out as high-risk by banks.

In other words, the very people who most need affordable finance to grow their craft business are struggling to obtain it. This trend appears to hold in Maharashtra as well.

Reports suggest that a key hurdle has been that applicants with any past bank irregularities get flagged, undermining the scheme’s aim to be an inclusive lifeline. Ironically, over 1.58 lakh artisans nationally even declined the loans offered to them, perhaps deterred by fear of debt or an inability to invest the funds properly.

Some Vidarbha artisans echo these issues: a blacksmith in a Wardha village shared that he was approved for a ₹1 lakh loan but turned it down, worried he might not generate enough new income to repay it. Such cases point to a deeper need for confidence-building and financial literacy at the grassroots.

The government has acknowledged the low loan uptake and is considering tweaks, faster processing of interest subvention, better follow-up with rejected applicants, and more flexible screening, to avoid the credit component becoming a dead letter. But until those adjustments happen, the credit support that is supposed to turbocharge artisans’ businesses remains largely out of reach for many in Vidarbha.

Another challenge is uneven awareness and outreach. The scheme’s adoption has varied widely across different states and regions.

Karnataka, for instance, has led the pack with over 5.7 lakh registrations and a high completion rate, owing to aggressive implementation. In contrast, some states have barely gotten off the mark. Tamil Nadu and West Bengal reportedly had no successful registrations under PM Vishwakarma as of mid-2025.

Large Hindi heartland states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar saw massive numbers of applicants but extremely low conversion rates (only about 5–9% of applications in those states resulted in fully registered artisans).

These disparities hint at gaps in local execution and publicity. Where state machinery and district officials actively promoted the scheme (as in Karnataka or Madhya Pradesh), artisans flocked to enrol and were guided through the verification process. But in places with weaker outreach or political hesitation, the uptake faltered. Maharashtra lies somewhere in the middle. About 10% of its applicants got through to registration.

Within Maharashtra, urban districts and politically important regions saw stronger participation than remote tribal belts.

Vidarbha’s rural pockets, with scattered villages in dense forested areas, pose a particular outreach challenge.

Observers note that awareness remains patchy in many tribal hamlets, where internet connectivity is poor and local officials may not have conducted enrollment camps.

The scheme requires biometric Aadhaar-based registration at common service centres, which can be a hurdle for artisans in far-flung communities who must travel to town for the process. Registration numbers remain particularly low in northern and eastern India, hinting at either poor outreach or low awareness levels.

This rings true for parts of Vidarbha as well. Without proactive campaigning in the vernacular and door-to-door mobilisation, many eligible craftsmen (like Madia Gond woodcarvers in Gadchiroli or traditional healers who make herbal products in Melghat) might not even know that PM Vishwakarma exists to help them.

Even for those who have enrolled, bureaucratic processes can be daunting. The scheme has a multi-tier verification involving gram panchayats, district committees and bank screening.

This rigour ensures genuine beneficiaries, but it can also intimidate artisans unfamiliar with paperwork. Some district officials in Vidarbha privately admit that coordinating between the skill training departments and banks and the beneficiaries, is a complex task, leading to delays.

Reports show that while Karnataka swiftly completed all three stages of verification for over 5.7 lakh applicants, many other states lagged, affecting overall implementation speed. The result is that a sizable portion of those 2.7 crore initial applicants are still in limbo. This gap between lofty targets and ground reality has drawn criticism from various quarters. Opponents of the government claim the scheme was launched with electoral calculations in mind rather than a flawless plan for execution. Some community leaders also question the scheme’s fundamental approach.

Will it truly uplift artisans or merely keep them tied to traditional caste-based occupations?

According to P.C. Patanjali, chairperson of the Most Backwards Classes Forum, schemes like this will deny artisan communities real progress if they end up reinforcing hereditary trades without expanding opportunities.

He argues that many young people from artisan castes leave villages precisely to escape the stigma and limitations of those occupations, seeking better education and jobs in cities. From this perspective, subsidising tools and loans so that they continue the same work at home might perpetuate their marginalisation.

Patanjali also believes the financial support on offer is too small to be transformative. The amounts being offered will not be enough to help people build better lives, he told a national daily, suggesting that broader measures like scholarships and modern technology adoption are needed beyond just ₹1–2 lakh loans.

This critique resonates in Vidarbha’s context, where a new toolkit or a short training can help an artisan marginally, but may not overcome systemic issues like low market prices for their goods or competition from factory-made alternatives. For instance, a tribal basket weaver in Melghat can now make a sturdier, painted basket after training, but she still struggles to sell it for a good price when cheap plastic baskets flood the market.

The Vishwakarma Yojana’s marketing support is meant to address such issues, but those mechanisms (branding, e-commerce onboarding) are still in early stages.

On the other hand, several OBC community representatives have welcomed PM Vishwakarma as a much-needed acknowledgement of neglected artisans. They contend that incentivising traditional skills is not regressive but rather a way to ensure these crafts survive and artisans thrive on their own terms.

Better late than never, said one leader, noting that at least now there is a dedicated program with substantial funding focused on these communities. The debate highlights a broader gap between the scheme’s well-intentioned design and the complex social reality it steps into.

Bridging that gap will require listening to feedback from the ground. Already, the government is reportedly reviewing some operational aspects, such as collecting granular data on why loans are rejected, pushing banks to be more flexible, and expediting the toolkit distribution.

There is talk of intensifying grassroots awareness campaigns and simplifying procedures to bring more artisans on board.

For Vidarbha’s tribal artisans, in particular, such course corrections could determine whether PM Vishwakarma turns out to be a game-changer or just a well-meaning scheme that fell short.

The rollout of PM Vishwakarma Yojana in Vidarbha’s traditional crafts and tribal artisan sector has been a story of cautious optimism mingled with frustration. On one hand, this ambitious programme has, for the first time in decades, shone a spotlight on the potters, weavers, carpenters, and countless others who form the cultural and economic fabric of rural Vidarbha.

It has provided them with tools, training and a sense of recognition that were long overdue. The sight of thousands of local women and men proudly holding up Vishwakarma ID cards or demonstrating new techniques learned in training speaks to the scheme’s tangible early benefits. On the other hand, the hurdles encountered, from slow loan disbursals and patchy outreach to structural concerns about long-term impact, serve as reminders that good intentions alone are not enough.

The success of this initiative will ultimately hinge on how effectively these gaps are addressed in the coming years. Can the government streamline access so that even the poorest Gond artisan in a remote hamlet can avail a loan and find a market for his craft? Will the skills and support provided be enough to make these trades truly remunerative and aspirational for the next generation?

Those questions remain open. What is clear for now is that Vidarbha’s artisans have been given a platform and a promise. The next phase must translate that promise into sustained prosperity, ensuring that the traditional masters of hand and tool (Vishwakarmas) can not only preserve their heritage, but also secure a better future through it.