Itanagar, Oct 1: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that getting a bank loan for the poor and small business owners has become very easy today and this has become possible due to the (Pradhan Mantri) Jan Dhan Yojana.
Sitharaman said this while addressing beneficiaries of various government schemes during a Credit Outreach Programme – an initiative by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance – in Itanagar on Tuesday.
She said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched 17 schemes including PM SVANidhi, Mudra Yojana, etc through which people can avail credit for their businesses. The Prime Minister has also ensured that people avail these schemes without any mortgage or lengthy documentation from the banks.
The Union Minister said that earlier it was very difficult for entrepreneurs to get a loan as banks wanted a guarantee. However, after Modi came to power in 2014, he launched several schemes which do not require any security and banks will pay loans without even asking for a single paper.
The Union Finance Minister said that the Credit Outreach Programme enables the government to review whether the welfare schemes are actually benefiting the common people.
After having come across the fact that there were no MSME clusters in Arunachal Pradesh till date, Sitharaman requested Chief Minister Pema Khandu to take up cluster development approach of the 20 GI-identified products in the state.
In small places such clusters could be declared by the MSME Ministry and the Small Industrial Development Bank of India (SIDBI) could be roped in to finance such enterprises, she said. She also suggested that Kiwi, mandarin processing units could be established in Arunachal Pradesh.
Speaking on the occasion, CM Pema Khandu said that Arunachal Pradesh has lots of potential to contribute immensely towards attaining the Prime Minister’s goal of Viksit Bharat in coming days. For this, the government of India has to extend full support to the state, particularly towards enhancing the state economy, he said.
He also underscored that to improve the state economy, the government has to focus on rural economy. He added that more than one lakh women in Arunachal Pradesh are currently involved in self-help groups and they have succeeded, to some extent, in enhancing the rural economy.
The Chief Minister also revealed that as directed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the state government is going to form atleast three FPOs (farmer producer organizations) clusters by December next, covering agri-horti, textiles sectors.
Earlier, the Union Finance Minister distributed bank loans worth Rs 14.41 crore to 160 beneficiaries under various central government schemes. She, along with CM Khandu, Deputy CM Chowna Mein and others, handed over the sanction letters from banks to the beneficiaries under various schemes such as PM SVANidhi, Stand-up India, Kisan Credit Card, PM MUDRA, NRLM-SHG, PM Surya Ghar, PMEGP, etc.
Sitharaman also flagged off a mobile ATM van and a mobile medical unit for conducting medical camps in rural areas of Arunachal Pradesh. She handed over an ambulance van and one hearse van to the office of the DGP, Police Headquarters Itanagar under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity of SBI. She also handed over bicycles to 50 girl students under the CSR initiative of the SBI.