Green Signal in YSESEF

By Eak Raj Bastola

With a motive of making youth employed, Ministry of finance has established Youth and Small Enterprise Self-Employment Fund (YSESEF) in 2008. As usual, due to the unstable government and government directly appointed member in YSESEF has not got up from its grassroots. With a highly motivated target of making 50,000 youth employed every year government has funded 5 billion rupees to the fund. But political appointment and other in transparency behavior inside the fund has dearth the fund. From the YSESEF, so far more than 2800 get self-employed from this fund from 31 districts.

With the hope of changing structure and making Fund on the go, government has nominated Prof. Dr. Punya Prasad Regmi, as an executive vice-chairman before six months.  After his influx in the fund, has raised some green signal in the fund. There are in the chaos order and fund was running without any system, Regmi shares. While seen the disorder system in the fund, he was sometimes dissatisfied but do not loss his hope and tried to maintain the fund.  “With a just six months cannot make a complete change but I am tried my best forming the fund”, he shares.  After his landed foot in the fund, he installed different department like Training, Information, Monitoring, Fund and Accounts and so on to make the fund working in full-fledged with modern system.

Similarly, with his initiatives, he is success in appointing the executive director at YSESEF from the open competition. Executive Director Binod Kumar Guragain is handling the post from March 14, 2012. Fund sometimes, in fact, many times get the rumor of getting involved in corruption cases. In fact, we can find out the different behavior that deals with corruptions cases. YSESEF has registered 140 accounts in different Nepali bank. It is still out of findings, the exact money saves in different bank. So, this, with and providing money to the favouristic and nepotistic people leads the fund into the corruptions, But he is trying to find out the fund money, where it is invested. Out of 5 billion, 3.5 billion rupees are in clean chit, where other funds are not yet identified, he claims. For transparency and accurate accounting system, 6 chartered accountants are working under fund.

With the aim of getting the fund to the target groups and grass root level, he has formed the District Coordination and endorsed committee in every district from April 27. The committee will identified and help to implement the fund. Every individual persuading for self-employment business will get Rs 200,000 from the fund. The fund should use to uplift the lifestyle and should endorse in small-scale business like poultry farm, gemstone, hatchery, and other farm. Youth can get in group and can collect a sum of amount and invest in more. The banks are also motivating in group than individual. Individual or group can use the money for 5 years

The fund provides loans to the local bank, co-operatives with the interest of 7 per cent. The financial institutions provide 12 per cent without any bail.  YSESEF is planning to do business with Agricultural Development Bank and Rastriya Banijya which has the branch with all the 75 districts. If the funds tie up with this, fund program will be across the nation, Regmi said.  The fund has already invested 300 million rupees for the self-employment but has to go a mile away, he said.