Which of the following programs are aimed at building self-employment opportunities in rural areas and small towns?

The correct answer is The Rural Employment Generation Programme.

Key Points:The Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP)

• The Rural Employment Generation Programme was launched in 1995.
• The aim of the programme is to create self-employment opportunities in rural areas and small towns. 
• The Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) launched this programme for the creation of two million jobs under the KVI sector in the rural areas of the country.
• The Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme is a conflation of the PMRY (Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana) and REGP (Rural Employment Generation Programme). 
• The Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme is aimed towards creating jobs in rural, as well as urban areas through various self-employment enterprises.

Additional Information Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) - (1993):

• Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana was launched in the year 1993.
• The aim of this programme is to create self-employment opportunities for educated and unemployed youth in rural areas and small towns in India.
• This yojana (scheme) offers subsidised financial assistance for setting up self-employment ventures in the manufacturing, trading, and service sectors.

Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY) - (2000):

• Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana was launched in the year 2000.
• Under this programme, additional central assistance is provided to states for basic services like primary healthcare, primary education, rural shelter, drinking water, and rural electrification.

Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY):

• The Government initiated the National Mission for Financial Inclusion (NMFI), namely, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) in August 2014. 
• It provides universal banking services for every unbanked household, based on the guiding principles of banking the unbanked, securing the unsecured, funding the unfunded, and serving unserved and underserved areas.
• Under the PMJDY scheme, some of the financial services that are offered to individuals are pensions, insurance, and banking.
  • For cardholders below the poverty line and Industrial workers.
• Under PMJDY zero balance accounts can be opened by individuals.
  • However, in case individuals would like to have access to the cheque facility, maintenance of a minimum balance is mandatory.