Critically evaluate PM Vishwakarma Yojana as a tool to formalise informal artisans while preserving the guru-shishya tradition.

PM Vishwakarma was launched on 17 September 2023 with a fully Central outlay of ₹13,000 crore (FY24–FY28) [1]. It targets self-employed artisans in 18 family-based trades of the unorganised sector, and it aims explicitly to strengthen the Guru-Shishya Parampara [1]. It has formalised identity and credit well. Its support for passing skills down the generations is weaker.

Formalisation: strengths

• Identity: artisans register through Common Service Centres on a biometric portal and receive a PM Vishwakarma Certificate and ID card [1]. The 30-lakh registration target was met by September 2026 [2].
• Enterprise status: beneficiaries are onboarded on the Udyam Assist Platform, which brings them into the formal MSME ecosystem [2].
• Formal credit: loans are collateral-free (₹1 lakh plus ₹2 lakh) at 5%. About 6.19 lakh loans worth roughly ₹5,316 crore have been sanctioned [2].
• Digital footprint: a ₹1 incentive is paid per digital transaction, and over 8.11 lakh beneficiaries have received it [2].

Preserving tradition: strengths

• Support goes to the family-based trade itself. The ₹15,000 toolkit modernises tools without replacing the craft [1].
• An IIM Mumbai concurrent evaluation found that 93% of surveyed beneficiaries reported higher income after training [2]. A craft that pays is more likely to be handed down.

Limitations

• Registration is not enterprise: against 30 lakh registrants, only about 6.19 lakh loans have been sanctioned and just over 30,000 artisans have joined e-commerce platforms [2].
• Market gap: loans are repaid from sales, so without buyers credit becomes a burden. The MSME credit gap is already about ₹20–25 lakh crore (Standing Committee on Finance, 2022) [3].
• Tradition gap: benefits go to one member per family, and basic training lasts only 5–7 days [2]. The scheme supports the master but not the shishya.
• Access: applications are accepted only through CSCs and pass a three-tier verification [2], which disadvantages remote and tribal artisans.

Way forward

• Scale up market linkages such as the MSME–TRIFED MoU that connects tribal Vishwakarmas to Tribes India [4], and extend them to GeM and ONDC.
• Measure sales and successor-learners, not just registrations. Give stipends to family apprentices.

PM Vishwakarma has given informal artisans a formal identity, credit and a digital record. It now has to turn registration into sales and support the next generation of learners. Doing so would make it a durable bridge between heritage and the formal economy, in line with SDG 8 (decent work) and the constitutional goal of livelihood security under Article 43.