Appreciating the efforts of rural women associated with Self Help Groups (SHGs) in creating financially viable livelihood-generating opportunities for their members, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that SHGs have done a commendable job in repaying bank loans over the last seven years, as he released Rs 1,625 crore as capitalisation support fund for over four lakh such groups.
Modi also stated that there was a time when nearly 9% of bank loans became nonperforming assets (NPA), but that this figure has now dropped to 2-3%.
In a jab at previous governments, Modi stated that for years, the amount of effort that should have been put in to economically empower women was not put in.
“When our government came, we saw that there were crores of sisters of the country who did not even have bank accounts. That is why we first started a huge campaign to open Jan Dhan accounts,” the PM said.
He went on to say that there are now over 42 crore Jan Dhan accounts, with women accounting for nearly 55 percent of the accounts.
Modi stated that the amount of assistance provided to women by the government through the National Rural Livelihood Mission is many times greater than that provided by previous administrations. A loan of approximately Rs 4 lakh crore has also been made available to self-help groups.
Over the last 6-7 years, the movement of woman SHGs has intensified, with over 70 lakh of them working across the country, a figure that is more than three times higher than previously, he said, adding that over eight crore women are connected with these groups.
In addition, Modi provided Rs 25 crore as seed money for 7,500 SHG members through the Ministry of Food Processing Industries' PMFME (PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises) scheme, as well as Rs 4.13 crore to 75 FPOs (farmer producer organisations) promoted through the mission.
In his remarks, the Prime Minister said the government is working with "full sensitivity towards the education, health, nutrition, vaccination and other needs of"our sisters and daughters", he said.
The Pime Minister remarked that the way women served the people of the country through the SHGs during the coronavirus crisis was unprecedented.
"Be it manufacturing masks and sanitiser or delivering food to the needy and spreading awareness, the contribution of your 'Sakhi groups' has been incomparable in every way," he said.
As the country celebrates 75 years of independence, he believes it is time to set new goals and move forward with renewed vigour.
"The government is constantly creating an environment in which all of you sisters can connect our villages with prosperity," Modi asserted.
