Jharkhand gets closer to its target set for disbursement of credit under Mudra Bank scheme even though lacking in support from private banks in operation in the State. Figures just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s special visit to the State suggest that most of the banks in non-Government sector have failed poorly.
The largest private sector bank, ICICI Bank has till date okayed just 708 applications coming for loans under Mudra Bank scheme against its target of 1,225 whereas Axis Bank could achieve the figure of 315 out of 850. Another major private sector HDFC has sanctioned loans on 885 applications against targeted 1,200 set to achieve ahead of the Prime Minister’s Dumka visit on October 2.
“We have just three days left and have no hesitation to accept that we are not getting ample and expected support from private banks in the endeavour. Several reminders have also been sent to their management and even reported to the Department of Financial Services. In the case of earlier schemes, their lackluster performances have been reported to the Centre and they have been reprimanded for that as well in the past,” said Mrituyanjay Kumar Gupta, General Manager of Bank of India, and convener, State level Bankers Committee (SlBC), Jharkhand.
The Centre has set an overall goal of over 1 lakh loans sanctioned during the special drive being run between September 1 and October 2 under the Mudra Bank loan scheme and distribute over `200 crore as loan. State Government in association with bankers is toiling hard to surpass the set figure and present a happy picture before the Prime Minister at Dumka.
Till date, total 92,347 applications for loan under all the three categories- Shishu, Kishore and Tarun- have been passed for sanctioning that amount `197.88 crore. “We are hopping that before October 2, the one lakh figure given to Jharkhand would easily be crossed over. Biggest focus is on Shishu category loan which is for starting small businesses. Out of total applications sanctioned, 90,944 are for Shishu amounting about `159 crore. 1,172 applications for `23.70 crore of loan are for Kishore while 231 applications for `14.26 crore are under Tarun category,” informed the official who is also given charge to oversee the PM Mudra Banking scheme.
The scheme meant to include even most vulnerable sections of society under the banking finance model by sanctioning loans under the three categories. Anyone without much documentation, collateral and guarantor can avail bank loan for opening any small business in the process to become self-employed.
Also, maximum 12 per cent annual interest rate has been fixed for the loan given under the scheme. All the finances given by the banks would be protected under Credit Guarantee Trust (CGT) SME of the DFS which safeguards them from turning the loan bad.
This apart, the beneficiaries can also avail facility of Mudra Card which provides them facility of cash credit just like debit or credit cards. “If anyone does not need the entire amount sanctioned at a time he can avail the Mudra Card and withdraw or pay to make purchase related to his business to the dealer through this,” added the official.
