AHMEDABAD: The Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) has virtually failed in Gujarat, with not a single application from key districts like Surat and Navsari in 2024–25. A sharp 60 per cent decline in applications over five years, coupled with the closure of 7,269 small and medium enterprises, has left over 33,000 people jobless, exposing the Gujarat government’s failure in translating employment promises into reality.In a damning indicator of policy failure, Gujarat has witnessed a breakdown in the implementation of the PMEGP, particularly in major districts like Surat and Navsari, which recorded zero applications for the scheme in 2024–25. This shocking data has emerged from a central government reply in the Rajya Sabha to Gujarat MP Narhari Amin, laying bare the state’s crumbling employment generation apparatus.The collapse is not isolated. PMEGP applications have plummeted from 19,654 in 2020–21 to just 7,793 in 2024–25, a drop of over 60 per cent, clearly revealing that Gujarat’s youth are losing faith in the scheme. Even in tribal districts where the scheme was meant to be a lifeline, the numbers are alarming: only seven applications in Dang and Mahisagar, 16 in Chhota Udepur, and just two in Narmada.
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