An entrepreneurial makeover for State One lakh direct jobs in 5 years Special Correspondent THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Fi- nance Minister K.M. Mani’s dream of turning Kerala into a bubbling land of entrepre- neurship is setting sail from here on Thursday. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate on Thursday the Kerala State Self Entrepreneur Develop- ment Mission, an ambitious programme of creating 50,000 trained entrepre- neurs in the State during the course of the next five years. The Finance Minister had an- nounced the idea of setting up the mission in his budget speech last year. “It's not just a training pro- gramme. We will find out youngsters with the right ap- titude from across the State, expose them to six weeks of orientation by experts, ar- range through the Kerala Fi- nance Corporation (KFC) interest-free loan of up to Rs.20 lakh, and handhold them to become vibrant en- trepreneurs,” Mr. Mani told the media on Tuesday. “There will also be a man- agerial subsidy, once they start their units,” the Minis- ter added. 15,000 applications He said nearly 15,000 ap- plications flowed in within days of the government giving an announcement in the media inviting interest in joining the mission. The edu- cation level sought was Plus Two and above. The KFC in- terviewed them for idea and promise and selected 4,000 of them in the first batch. ® Four lakh indirect employment opportunities ® 818 youngsters to get trained in the first batch Training starts on Febru- ary 6 for a group of 818 young- sters in the first batch. They all will be put through the ori- entation measures and sup- ported with funds nourishment and counsel and handheld for a time so that they sprout wings and take flight, Mr. Mani said. First time in India “A revolutionary _pro- gramme, first time in India, innovative,” Mr. Mani said, stressing each highlight. He gave visions’ of every nook and corner of the State throb- bing with entrepreneurship, youngsters with energy and idea creating jobs for them- selves and several others. “One lakh direct employ- ments and four lakh indirect ones within five years. That is our target,” the Finance Min- ister said. Mr. Mani said the govern- ment would subsidise the in- terest part of the loan. The. banks are eager to help. The State Level Bankers’ Com- mittee is talking about it at its meeting this month. The ideas lying dormant among the aspiring entrepreneurs are wide ranging. They range from high-tech ones to the not-so-high-tech, but the boy or girl behind each idea is rar- ing to go, said Mr. Mani.