Gatidhara Scheme

Exploring the situation of unemployment in the country, the state of West Bengal has brought up various measures to restrain the impact of unemployment among the residents of the state. One such initiative of the West Bengal Government for its unemployed youth of both rural and urban areas is the Gatidhara Scheme. The Ministry of Employment and Labour implemented this scheme to motivate employment through the transport sector by offering a subsidy loan to purchase commercial vehicles such as bus, taxi, auto-rickshaw, truck, etc. out of which income can be generated. In this article, we look at the West Bengal Government Gatidhara scheme in detail

Features of Gatidhara Scheme

The Gatidhara scheme renders financial assistance in the form of a loan, which is sanctioned through all the Nationalized Banks, Co-operative Banks and Gramin Banks. Under this scheme, the project cost for the purchase of small and medium vehicle should fall within the maximum limit of Rs.10,00,000.

Pattern of Funding

The State Government financially supports the applicant by granting a subsidy of 30% of the project cost provided that it confines to Rs.1,00,000
The bank approves the entrepreneur a term loan of 65% of the project cost
The applicant should contribute the remaining 5% of the project cost as margin money

About the loan

The disbursement of loan would take place within 15 days from the receipt of the subsidy and the entrepreneur’s contribution. The rate of interest will be at par with that of the similar schemes being introduced by the Government of West Bengal. The repayment period of the loan is 5 to 7 years.

Eligibility Criteria

The candidate applying for the scheme will be eligible on confirming to the following conditions:

The candidate should be a resident of West Bengal
The age limit of the applicant should be between 20 to 45 years of age. Relaxation of the upper age limit is available for the SC, ST and OBC candidates up to five and three years respectively
The overall household income of the beneficiary should not surpass Rs.25,000 per month
The candidate should possess a valid commercial driving license
Only one member from a family is applicable for a subsidy
Applicants who have availed a loan under BSKP, USKP or any other scheme are also eligible for this scheme
Candidates who receive the benefits under Yuvashree are also eligible, which includes termination of the allowance as soon as the bank loan is disbursed

Documents Required

The following documents are required for applying under the Gatidhara scheme:

Driving license
Domicile certificate as a proof for residence
Unemployment certificate
A birth certificate as age proof
Aadhaar card
Income certificate from the respective authority
Caste certificate
Passport size photograph
Project report
Affidavit as per mentioned format

Applying for Gatidhara Scheme

The applicant should submit the duly filled application form to the office of Joint Director of Employment Kolkata District in case of Kolkata municipal corporation area. In contrast, the other applicants can submit to the respective sub-divisional officer (SDO) along with the necessary documents. The application form, affidavit and the income or employment certificate must be submitted in the prescribed format. The copies of those are provided below: