Women accorded top priority under PM Mudra
Yojana scheme: FM Sitharaman
Union
Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said women
entrepreneurs are accorded first priority under the Centre's flagship Pradhan
Mantri Mudra Yojana scheme which offers financial assistance to beneficiaries.
Distributing sanction letters
to beneficiaries under the PM SVANidhi Se Samriddhi programme which offers
loans to street vendors, here, she said officials of the municipalities should
identify the uncovered street vendors and help them avail benefits of this
scheme.
SVANidhi Se Samriddhi is an
additional component of the PMSVANidhi scheme to facilitate access to eight
Central government schemes to eligible PM SVANidhi beneficiaries and their
family members for their holistic development and socio-economic upliftment.
Recalling the launch of Jan
Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile Trinity, Sitharaman said that through JAM Trinity, an
AADHAR card was provided to a beneficiary, after which he or she can open a
bank account and, directly, the financial aid from the Centre has been transferred
to the accounts of a beneficiary, thereby avoiding 'middlemen'.
The Union Minister referred to
former PM and late Rajiv Gandhi's comment that if the Centre gives away Rs 100
to a beneficiary, he receives only Rs 15 and the remaining Rs 85 goes to
middlemen and others'.
"He (Rajiv Gandhi)
himself has mentioned this and after assuming office in 2014, in order to
ensure that a beneficiary directly receives the financial assistance given to
him by the Centre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised us to use technology so
that the beneficiary is able to know whatever amount he has received directly,
thereby middlemen can be avoided," she said.
"The opening of bank
accounts to serve the beneficiary was conducted like a mass movement to attain
full coverage of the scheme across the country," she added.
On the Pradhan Mantri Mudra
Yojana scheme, Sitharaman said it was introduced to provide loans through banks
particularly to empower women entrepreneurs.
"One important aspect of
the scheme is that women who are running small businesses or interested in
starting a business, can approach the bank and start their venture by receiving
the loans from PM Mudra Yojana scheme. Through this scheme, if 100 people were
beneficiaries, 60 of them would comprise women. Women were accorded top
priority under the PM Mudra scheme," she pointed out.
The PMMY was launched on April
8, 2015, for providing loans up to Rs 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm
small/micro enterprises.
Sitharaman noted that with an
aim to help street-vendors, the Central government introduced the PMSVANidhi
scheme through banks to avail loans.
Pointing to Department of
Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi's remarks, Sitharaman said if a bank
offers a loan of up to Rs 10,000 to a beneficiary and if he pays it back on
time, the loan amount is increased to Rs 20,000 and again if he pays back on
time, it is further increased to Rs 50,000.
"A QR Code is provided to
the beneficiary and through the scheme he will be able to receive commission
also. This scheme has become popular across the country," she said.
Noting that the Finance
Ministry is reviewing the progress of the scheme, Sitharaman said the reason
for launching it in Rameswaram was because Ramanthapuram district along with
Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu have been identified as aspirational districts' so
that they attain a developmental status.
"I was told more than
2,200 street vendors have been identified to benefit under this scheme in
Rameswaram, which is dependent on tourism, while more than 5,000 people have
been identified under this scheme in this district alone," she said.
Earlier in the day, the
Finance Minister offered prayers at the famous Ramanathaswamy temple, one of
the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines.
Later, Sitharaman took part in
a similar event at the Government Medical College in the Virudhunagar district.
After handing over the
sanctioned letters to beneficiaries under the PM SVANidhi Scheme, she appealed
to members of the media, public, and local government authorities to ensure
that each and every street vendor in the district avails the benefits of the
scheme.
Speaking on the topic
'entitlement vs empowerment', she said, "Through entitlement, a
beneficiary is aware of the scheme and he goes to a bank and seeks the benefits
that he is entitled to avail from the scheme. Whereas through empowerment, you
empower them with these benefits so that they gradually grow and become job
creators." "We have disbursed loans to 7,982 beneficiaries under the
PM SVANidhi Scheme. People living in Virudhunagar, the media and the
authorities should identify the eligible street vendors, tell them about the
scheme, and encourage them to avail the benefits of the scheme," she said.
The Finance Minister said
Virudhunagar along with Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu were selected among the
116 Aspirational Districts initiative by the Centre to help them grow in all
the sectors. "I have come here two or three times and have discussed with
the respective District Collectors (of both Virudhunagar and Ramanathapuram) on
those areas that need to be improved in these two districts," she
remarked.
Meanwhile, Indian Overseas
Bank, the organisers of the two events, said bank loans to 6,679 people were
handed over in Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar districts on the occasion by the
Finance Minister.
Indian Overseas Bank is the
convenor for the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) and also the lead bank
for Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar districts. The event showcases the
commitment of various banks towards the success of the PM SVANidhi initiative,
a press release from the bank said.
Department of Financial
Services Secretary Vivek Joshi, Indian Overseas Bank MD and CEO, and Chairman
of the SLBC, Ajay Kumar Srivastava were also present on the occasion.
www.business-standard.com dt. 20.11.2023