New Delhi, April 6 2016: Indian  Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi,  yesterday  launched the Stand Up India initiative, which aims to boost entrepreneurship among  Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Women. The initiative envisages loans to at least two aspiring entrepreneurs from these categories.
The loan   range from Rs 1 million to Rs 10million . Some  500 e-rickshaws were also distributed on the occasion. 
Explaining his vision for converting job seekers into job creators, the Prime Minister said the Stand Up India initiative will transform the lives of the Dalits and the Adivasis. 
Earlier, the Prime Minister interacted with the families of some of the beneficiaries, over a cup of tea. The beneficiaries explained how e-rickshaws would change their lives for the better. The Prime Minister exhorted them to ensure that they educate their children.  He booked an e-rickshaw, and took a brief e-rickshaw ride towards the stage, making the payment for the ride through a cellphone. 

e-rickshaw launch
The Prime Minister distributed 5100 E-Rickshaws at an event organised by the Bhartiya Micro Credit (BMC) programme under the Mudra Yojna Scheme in Noida today. The e-rickshaws were received by existing rickshaw owners as well as women and transgender recipients. In addition these recipients were also provided an insurance cover by the Pradhan Matri Jan Dhan Yojna, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jivan Jyoti Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana schemes and eight other schemes.
Under this program, nearly 5100 e-rickshaws are slotted for distribution in the Delhi-NCR area, including Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad. Customers will subsequently be able to book e-rickshaws through the Ola mobile app and make online payment via Freecharge that has been integrated into this scheme under the Digital India initiative.
As part of this scheme, Bhartiya Micro Credit (BMC) will also set up charging stations (for charging the e-rickshaw batteries) for every 50 E-Rickshaws and service centres (for maintenance of e-rickshaws and batteries) will also be set up for every 250 E-Rickshaws. Under the scheme, charging and service station will also be set up, which will help the growth of  emergence of small and micro enterprises along with creating many opportunities for entrepreneurs. “This organically integrates Bhartiya Micro Credit (BMC) E-Rickshaws program into Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi flagship ‘Stand Up India’ initiative, said Shantanu Gupta, Advisor to Bhartiya Micro Credit