Aasara Celebrations: AP CM Credits Rs 6,440 Crore Into Accounts of 78.76 Lakh Women

PRAKASAM: For the second consecutive year in a row, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday released the second tranche of YSR Aasara by crediting nearly Rs 6,440 crore into the accounts of 78.76 lakh women belonging to 7.97 lakh Self Help Groups (SHG). 

Under the scheme, the outstanding loans of women SHGs which were Rs 25,517 crore (until April 2019) will be directly credited into their accounts in four phases.

Addressing the public gathering here at Ongole, the Chief Minister said that Aasara Celebrations will be taking place in all districts except Kadapa from October 7-18, taking each mandal as a single unit. He said the scheme will be implemented in Kadapa district from November 6 to 15 after the by-elections for the Badvel constituency. He stated that the government had spent a total of Rs 12,759 crore towards YSR Aasara alone in the last 28 months.

On this occasion, the Chief Minister said that SHG women have been betrayed by Chandrababu Naidu, who promised to waive off all the loans back in 2014 during elections. Believing Naidu’s words women were stuck in debt for not paying their loans, as a result, the loan amount mounted to Rs 25,517 crore from Rs 14,204 crore with all the interests levied. Almost 18.36 percent of the groups were notified as Non-Performing Assets (NPA) and even those with A grade were downgraded to C and D due to non-payment of loans. Adding a burden to these woes, the zero-interest loan scheme was also stopped from October 2016.

However, as promised during the 2019 elections to pay back the amount in four phases, the current government had already credited Rs 12759 crore in two phases and restarted zero-interest loan schemes benefitting nearly one crore women. With the measures taken by the government, only 0.73 percent SHG were notified as NPA and those with C and D grades have also bounced back to A grade, registering a recovery rate of 99.5 percent.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy thanked all the women for supporting the government with their blessings and bringing victories in all the polls. He said that with the government’s initiative over 3 lakh women have started various businesses and are earning an additional income of Rs 7,000 to Rs 10,000 per month. He stated that 50 percent of nominated posts and nominated works were reserved to women, whereas in reality over 60.47 percent of posts were given to women in various corporations.  Out of 13 ZP Chairpersons posts, seven and 15 out of 26 vice-chairman posts were given to women. Keeping women's safety in view Disha Act and Disha were brought and are being implemented across the State.

Listing out the various welfare schemes, he said that around 1 crore women of 9.41lakh SHGs were benefitted through zero-interest loans, as the government credited Rs 2362 crore. Through Amma Vodi 44.50 lakh women and 85 lakh children were benefited by receiving Rs 13,023 crore. Like never before, almost 61 lakh people have been receiving pensions in the State while it was only 39 lakh during the TDP rule. The previous government had spent Rs 450 crore for providing a pension of Rs 1000 every month, while the current government has been spending Rs 1450 crore and giving Rs 2250 every month.

The government had spent Rs 8944 crore benefiting 24.56 lakh women through YSR Cheyutha, Rs 5573 crore for Vidya Deevena, Rs 2270 crore for Vasati Deevena, Rs 881 crore for Sampoorna Poshana, Rs 982 crore for YSR Kapu Nestam, and distributed 31 lakh house sites, where each house is valued between Rs 5-10 lakh.

Later the Chief Minister sanctioned Rs 400 crore for the drinking water project in Ongole and announced that water will be drawn from the first tunnel of Veligonda project by August 2022 and the second tunnel will be ready by February 2023. Ministers Peddireddy Ramachandrareddy, Adimulapu Suresh, Balineni Srinivas Reddy, and other officials were present at the event. 

Also See: AP CM YS Jagan Releases 2nd Phase of YSR Aasara In Ongole