The efforts of the State Government to make women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) self-reliant by creating more job opportunities are stymied by the reluctance of banks to extend loans to them.
According to sources, the commercial banks have not even fulfilled half of the financial requirements in this regard. An analysis has revealed that the banks have extended only 40 per cent of the desired financial support to the SHGs who are linked to different banks.
While State Bank of India leads the list extending loans to 4,251 SHGs, the Bank of India processed loan applications of 1,490 SHGs, the United Bank of India in 850 cases and the Allahabad Bank in 835 cases.
The Punjab and Sind Bank has not provided any loan to any SHG though it was supposed to disburse loans to 25 SHGs. The Dena Bank sanctioned loan to six SHGs out of a targeted 57 and the Oriental Bank of Commerce provided loan to 27 SHGs out of a 147, the sources added.
The Corporation Bank extended a total of `3.8 lakh loan to 15 SHGs. The Odisha Gramya Bank achieved only 64 per cent of the target and the Utkal Grameen Bank 83 per cent, the sources said.
The Odisha Gramya Bank had the target to advance loans to 13,357 SHGs, but it has disbursed only `137. 15 crore to 8,483 SHGs while the Utakal Grameen Bank advanced `77.70 crore to 7,776 SHGs against a target of advancing loans to 9,376 SHGs.
Seven private banks have advanced loans to 410 SHGs out of a target of 923 SHGs. Banks such as the Indusind Bank, the DCB Bank, the Federal Bank and the Karur Vaish Bank did not give any loan to any SHG, the sources claimed.
The Odisha State Cooperative Bank extended `38.84 crore of loan to 4,043 SHGs during the period of study.
In the first nine months of the current fiscal, all the banks extended a total loan of `401.86 crore to SHGs.
While the nationalised banks achieved a 40-per cent target, Cooperative Banks registered 49 per cent, private banks only 45 per cent and the Regional Rural Banks 69 percent of the targets.