Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], February 21 : Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications, Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said on Saturday that Rs 8,000 crore has been provided for women to avail loans on an individual basis, instead of as a self-help group.
Speaking to ANI, Pemmasani noted nearly 10 crore women in about 90 lakh self-help groups avail a total of Rs 2 lakh crore in loans annually. However, the government aims to provide individual loans to build individual enterprises.
The Union MoS, "Close to 10 crore self-help group women, 90 lakh self-help groups. Historically, they have been getting close to 12 lakh crore worth of loans. Every year, they take close to 2 lakh crores worth of loans. So now, instead of giving it to the groups, we also want all the successful SHG women from this group to take individual loans and build individual enterprises, individual businesses. In that aspect, today, almost Rs 8,000 crore is being given to those women."
He added that a unified government interface will allow women to apply for loans in one place, without visiting multiple banks.
"Women won't have to go to 10-20 banks to get a loan. They will apply at one place at a government interface, and that will go to multiple banks. We have asked bankers also, because we want to make it easier for women to receive loans," Pemmasani said.
Earlier today, he addressed the 25th Central Level Coordination Committee Programme in Hyderabad.
The 25th Central Level Coordination Committee (CLCC) Meeting was convened in Hyderabad, marking an important step in advancing policy dialogue and strengthening coordination across the rural financial ecosystem, the Rural Development Ministry said in a press release.
The meeting was chaired by Rural Development Minister and CLCC chairperson Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
According to the release, Chouhan emphasised the importance of strengthening bank linkage for SHGs and adopting a focused approach towards supporting individual women entrepreneurs. He stated that extending credit to SHG women is not a risk but one of the safest investments for the nation.
Highlighting the transformative potential of women-led enterprises, he expressed confidence that with collective support from all stakeholders, "Didis" can progress from Lakhpati to Crorepati, thereby accelerating women-led rural transformation and contributing significantly to the vision of Viksit Bharat.
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