Low-interest loans availed by 300 women of SHGs

President Prtibha Patil had launched in the city a scheme bringing down the interest rate to four per cent, after the launch of the scheme around 300 women from self-help groups (SHGs) have taken loans up to Rs 10 lakh from nationalized banks in the district since October 10.

Till now twenty-five SHGs have been able to get the loan sanctioned while 15 are in the final stages of approval. Loan seekers have submitted applications for poultry, organic, goat and dairy farming.

Senior district coordinator T L Shere of Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal (MAVIM) is one of the key agencies coordinating the scheme in the district said, “The scheme will enable women to take on more entrepreneurial activities and repay faster”.

He said Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, Central Bank, State Bank of India have offered loans ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh.

The scheme has received such a good response while awareness is still very low. Pune District Collector Chandrakant Dalvi told that he will be organizing a meeting with bank representatives, followed by meetings in every taluka.

Shere said so far banks are offering loans at 9-11 per cent, therefore nearly 17 lakh women from rural areas from a total of 1.42 SHGs have been benefited from the scheme.

He added, “Around 45,000 SHGs will stand to get Rs 50,000, another 72,000 will get Rs 1 lakh and 18,000 SHGs will get Rs 2 lakh, with the state taking on an interest subsidy of nearly Rs 129.01 crore in three years”.

On the other hand a senior officer with a nationalized bank said they are confident of repayment going by the past records of SHGs. He said, “We will be only too willing to help these women”. Manisha Kale of Pune’s Garib Nawaz Bachat Gat, was the one to get the first disbursal of Rs 2 lakh from the president, hence she used the money on planning for dairy farming. “It should start soon. We have mobilized our group,” she said.