VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy said on Wednesday that the government is paving the way for women empowerment and their financial self-sufficiency through introduction of the Aasara and Cheyutha schemes.
The government disbursed Rs 6330.58 crore to above 8 lakh self-help women DWAKRA groups and is now preparing to disburse the second tranche of these schemes, the CM said and advised officials to provide a' 35,000 loan to each woman housing beneficiary at a paltry 25 paise interest, for house construction.
Jagan stated this while holding a review meeting on Aasara and Cheyutha schemes at the CM Camp office at Tadepalli.
The chief minister said the government would ensure the economic development of women. Hence it brought up schemes like Aasara and Cheyutha. The government also revived the system of zero-interest loans that had been canceled during the Telugu Desam term. It has also partnered with companies like ITC, Reliance and Amul to support women entrepreneurs.
He asked officials to ensure spot documentation while availing loans for creating employment avenues that would contribute to sustainable economic growth. “Steps should be taken to provide a loan of Rs 35,000 at 25 paise interest.”
The CM recalled that the previous TD government had promised to clear the outstanding loans but betrayed women by asking them not to repay their loans. “With the non-repayment of these loans, the YSRC government has taken up the responsibility and cleared the loans in four installments. Had Chandrababu cleared those loans in 2014, the burden on women would have ended there. Because he did not do this, the women were badly affected. The A grade groups of women have fallen into ‘C’ grade,” the CM said.
Jagan asked the officials to come up with special programmes ahead of the disbursement of the second tranche of the Aasara initiative by involving the public representatives. The money given under Aasara should be deposited in unencumbered accounts so that the banks cannot deduct the money for unpaid debts.
Reviewing the YSR Cheyutha, the CM asked officials to ensure that marketing of their products from such units shouldn’t be a problem. Officials must take appropriate steps so that no woman runs into losses. The purpose of the scheme is to make women make use of the money provided to them for their sustainable livelihood.
Officials told CM that over eight lakh DWACRA groups were benefited under the Aasara scheme, wherein the government gave Rs 6330.58 crore in the first tranche. The social audit on the list of beneficiaries for the second tranche has been completed and the lists have also been displayed in the village secretariats.
Similarly, through YSR Cheyutha in the first installment, almost three lakh women have set up businesses like retail shops, cattle-rearing, raising buffalo, sheep and goat farms. In the second phase, the government would create employment opportunities for 2,21,598 women.
The government launched sustainable economic growth plans for the people in association with Procter & Gamble, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Retail, Amul and Allana companies the previous year. This year, it is entering into MoUs with Reliance's Ajio, Tanager, Rural Development Center, Mahindra, Gain and Kalgudi.
Panchayati Raj and rural development minister P Ramachandrareddy, department secretary GK Dwivedi, finance secretary Satyanarayana, SERP CEO Md Imtiaz, MEPMA MD Vijayalakshmi, Sthreenidhi MD Nancharaiah and director of animal husbandry Amarendra Kumar were among the officials present.
