Despite CM’s promise SHG women continue to pay interest

The State Government boasts of extending interest-free loans for women and none other Chief Minister N Kirankumar Reddy himself has promised time and again that women, who obtain loans from commercial banks, need not pay interest on their loan amounts and that they can repay only the principal amount.

But none of these promises are, in effect, being implemented. The Kirankumar Reddy Government has introduced with much fanfare interest-free loans for women in January in place of ‘Pavala Vaddi’ scheme that was in force during the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy regime. Under the new scheme members of the Self Help Groups should repay the loan amount to the banks with interest and later the government will reimburse the interest amount to the beneficiary.
Reposing immense faith in the Government, lakhs of women, against heavy odds, have repaid the total loan amounts with interest ontime. However, the ruling dispensation has miserably failed to keep the word leaving these women in lurch. For the past 10 months they are eagerly waiting for the government to take a positive decision. It is not an exaggeration that till now interest for a single beneficiary has been reimbursed.
The outstanding amount is a whooping Rs 650 crore for about 66 lakh women, the members of 6.87 lakh Self Help Groups. This apart, the dues under the earlier Pavala Vaddi scheme is another Rs 100 crore, according to officials of the departments concerned. 
Notwithstanding this, though the Chief Minister has announced amid a large gathering recently that the Self Help Group women need not pay interest on their loans if the principal amount is paid within the stipulated period. However, the banks are squeezing these SHG women and are collecting the interest dues too.
While the beneficiaries quote the Chief Minister’s promise, the banks, however, claim that no order was issued by the government till now in this regard. The impact of this is felt more on petty businessmen and the officials estimate that at least Rs 1,400 crore has to be paid this financial year when the government releases the order to this effect.
The moot question is whether already the cash-strapped administration will be able to keep its promise.

Prasad@sakshipost