With an aim to push the Government’s financial inclusion agenda and support entrepreneurship among women and SC & ST communities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched the Stand-up India scheme under which 1.25 lakh bank branches will provide loans up to Rs 1 crore to SC/ST and women entrepreneurs. At a function, which was organised to mark birth anniversary of Dalit leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Babu Jagjivan Ram, Modi also distributed 5,100 e-rickshaws.
Before launching the scheme, Modi interacted with e-rickshaw beneficiaries over Chai Pe Charcha. E-rickshaw drivers shared their dreams and struggle with the PM.
Explaining the contours of Stand-up India programme, Modi said this will help in creating 2.5 lakh entrepreneurs throughout the country as every bank branch will be required to provide two such loans ranging from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore without collateral for setting up a new enterprise. Stressing that it is not possible for the Government to provide jobs for everyone, the PM said the scheme will convert “job-seekers into job-creators...This scheme is going to transform the lives of people from Dalit and tribal communities.”
In a veiled dig at large corporate defaulters like Vijay Mallya, the Prime Minister on Tuesday said while poor people are generous and
honest some rich borrowers look for ways to flee after taking loans.
“This nation has seen the generosity of the poor. Rich borrowers look for ways to run away after borrowing money from banks. The poor people were required to open zero balance account under the Jan Dhan scheme. look at their honesty, their self respect, they opted to put money into their accounts... Rs 50, 100, 200. The deposits exceeded Rs 35,000 crore. This is the generosity of our poor people,” Modi said.
Stand up India, he said, aims to empower every Indian and enable them to stand on their own feet.
The scheme was announced by Modi in his Independence Day address.
Modi also took a dig at the Congress by pointing out that no previous Government had organised any function on the birth anniversary of Jagjivan Ram, who as Agriculture Minister did a lot to usher the green revolution and was Defence Minister at the time of 1971 war. “It is unfortunate that contribution of such people is being ignored,” he said.
Speaking at the function, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said his Ministry, which is usually associated with big business houses, in the last two years has tried to work for the betterment of the poor people. He recalled various schemes of the Government like Jan Dhan Yojana, insurance and pension and MUDRA Yojana to promote financial inclusion with the view to empower the poor.
Jaitley added that banks have given loans to 3.26 crore beneficiaries totalling Rs 1.35 lakh crore under Prime Minister MUDRA Yojana in 2015-16, which is more than the target of Rs 1.22 lakh crore fixed by the Prime Minister.
Modi, who entered the launch venue on a decorated e-rickshaw, distributed keys to some beneficiaries and flagged of 5,100 e-rickshaws.
The Prime Minister appealed to e-rickshaw owners to educate their children especially the girl child saying that the country cannot progress unless poor and Dalit get an opportunity to come up in life. He said the e-rickshaw scheme is environment friendly as there will be a provision for recharging the battery from solar-powered battery station. “E-richshaw will help in fighting global warming,” he said.
Although UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was absent, the function among others was attended by State Governor Ram Naik, Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha and MPs.
The State Government was represented by Food and Civil Supplies Minister Kamal Akhtar.
Under the Stand-up India scheme, SC/ST and women entrepreneurs who will avail loan would be given a RuPay Debit Card for withdrawal, besides comprehensive support like pre-loan training, facilitating loan, factoring and marketing.
There would be a Rs 10,000 crore refinance window through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company ltd (NCGTC) will create a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore. SIDBI would engage with the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and various institutions. The offices of SIDBI and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) shall be designated Stand Up Connect Centres.