The Arunachal Pradesh government has disbursed more than Rs 8 crore as loans to 789 Self Help Groups (SHGs) of the state under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY NRLM).
Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Wednesday virtually disbursed the amount of Rs 8, 27,47,000 under the scheme which was provided by three banks - State Bank of India (SBI), Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank (APRB) and the Arunachal Pradesh State Cooperative Apex Bank (APSCAB).
The scheme is being implemented by the Arunachal State Rural Livelihood Mission (ArSRLM) of the state Rural Development department facilitating a subsidized loan amount of Rs 1 lakh to each eligible SHG, officials informed. The event is a part of the nationwide Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsavâ in line with the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat mission to commemorate 75th anniversary of Indian Independence in 2022.
SRLM is currently implementing DAY NRLM in 22 districts and has brought 33,516 rural households under it. The mission management units at the state, district clusters and block levels provide continued handholding support to SHGs for strengthening their institutions, financial inclusion, promotion of livelihoods and expanding existing basket of livelihoods of SHG members, the officials said.
Commending ArSRLM, especially its block-level coordinators, Khandu said that savings, thrift and micro finance support to the SHGs under DAY NRLM have been instrumental in initiating a transformational change at the household level in rural areas.
"We are striving hard to address the formidable challenge of financial inclusion in rural areas where our citizens are not having desired level of access to financial services. ArSRLM is taking forward the state government's vision of deepening financial inclusion by providing access to affordable and appropriate financial services which would contribute towards improving GDP and lowering income inequality, Khandu said.
Asserting that it is the vision of the state government to transform rural economy of the state, Khandu said that a proper roadmap has to be evolved to take the process further. He said the government would soon have a brainstorming with the concerned minister, coordinators and partner banks to take financial inclusion further into rural areas besides increasing the loan amount. It is a matter of pride that we today have about 3,796 SHGs, mostly of women, across the state. Our aim should be to handhold each of them through all means at our disposal. We also have to bring in all these SHGs under the SHG Bank Linkage Program, he observed.
The chief minister further said that the role of the government does not end with providing loan. He said that at the end of the day, each SHG would have to repay the principal amount plus the interests to the bank. This is a business model. To enable the SHGs to profitably use the loan amount we need to give them market linkage. This should be seriously taken into account by departments like agriculture and allied sectors and agencies like the Arunachal Pradesh Marketing Board, he stressed.
