Bengaluru, (DHNS): Karnataka has joined hands with ride-hailing company Uber as part of a new selfemployment scheme known as Airavata that was launched here on Saturday.

The scheme, aimed at SC/ST youth, involves partnering with service providers and aggregators to provide employment by ownership of cabs and taxis. The government has called it a first-of-its-kind strategic livelihood programme.

Under this, the Social Welfare Department signed an agreement with Uber to identify and train 500 youth in the first phase. The government will provide a financial grant of Rs 5 lakh to each beneficiary, while Uber will assist in identifying eligible candidates in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru and Hubballi.

Besides training them, Uber will encourage the beneficiaries to register as Driver Partners on its platform. Beneficiaries will also get assistance to avail additional loans from financial institutions.

Overall, the government is looking to invest over Rs 225 crore in the scheme to create “industry-owned private enterprise” for youth from Tier 2 and 3 cities. The goal, the government said, was to promote a fleet of 4,500 cabs and taxis across Karnataka.

“We are committed to provide the SC/ST community with the necessary resources to chart their success stories. With Uber, we will ensure economic opportunities and income levels in tier 2 and tier 3 cities improve,” Social Welfare Minister Priyank Kharge said.

Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, who flagged off the Airavata scheme, said the measure would create jobs and boost economic development.

“There cannot be development without job creation and I hope this Airavata acts as a catalyst in Karnataka’s growth story. I hope more partners like Uber join us,” he said.

Uber India & South Asia president Pradeep Parameswaran said the scheme helped incentivise skills building coupled with entrepreneurship. “As a multi-modal platform, we believe that technology holds the key to creating millions of economic opportunities while solving for mobility, security and congestion,” he said.

Interested candidates may apply by downloading the application forms from www.kalyanakendra.com and www.adcl.karnataka.gov.in.

These forms will be available on the site between October 2 and October 31, 2018.