Kakinada: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said bankers had reduced the rate of interest from 13 per cent to seven on loans of Rs 3 lakh and from 13 per cent to 9.5 on loans of Rs 5 lakh being provided to women’s self-help-groups, adding that efforts are on to convince bankers to further reduce the interest rates to reduce the burden on SHGs.
He said that banks had reduced the rate of interest as the loan recovery rate was 99.5 per cent and even the rate of NPAs has drastically decreased to 0.45 per cent as against 18 per cent during the Telugu Desam rule.
He said this while launching the third phase of the YSR Aasara scheme to distribute Rs 6,419 crore to 7,89,395 SHGs consisting of 78,94,169 women members in the state, in Denduluru village of Eluru district on Saturday. He said the amounts would be credited directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries in 10 days from March 25 to April 5 in a festive atmosphere. He said that as a promise given by him during his padayatra, Rs 12,758 crore was already credited into the accounts of SHGs in the last two phases and the amount has increased to Rs 19,177 crore in the third phase. He said that during the period between 2014 and 2019, SHGs used to be given Rs 14,000 on an average, but now the loan amount has increased to Rs 30,000.
The Chief Minister said the YSRC government aimed at empowerment of women and improving their livelihood conditions through SHGs. He said that now the SHGs have become a role model in the country and many states are visiting Andhra Pradesh to observe the SHG revolution in the state.
“From the beginning my government has given importance to my sisters and mothers in the state enabling them to undertake small business and other occupations by releasing funds to SHGs through various schemes in the past 45 months of the YSRC rule. I can claim that no other state in the country has done as much for women’s welfare, Jagan Mohan Reddy said and listed out various schemes including Amma Vodi and the amounts released so far.
He said that during the TD rule, former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had neglected women’s welfare and even scrapped the zero per cent interest scheme. “Naidu failed to fulfil all his promises during his tenure,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that he revised the zero interest scheme and also introduced the YSR Aasara and other welfare schemes for the empowerment of the women.
Talking about other schemes he said that 1.17 crore women downloaded the DISHA app and 26,000 women have been benefited and rescued through the app. He said that the modern women for 21st century concept has taken root in the state. “My aim is to see “modern woman” in every house and every village in the state. My government is a pro-women empowerment and welfare government.”
Eluru district collector V. Prasanna Venkatesh, ministers Karumuri Nageswara Rao, Kottu Satyanarayana, Taneti Vanitha, Pinepe Viswaroop, MPs Mithun Reddy and K. Sridhar, Rajya Sabha member Pilli Subhashchandra Bose and MLAs were present.
In Kurnool, Rs 50.44 crore was deposited into the accounts of 75,379 members of 8,191 societies and Rs 90.83 crore was deposited into the accounts of 1,73,228 members of 17,316 societies under the DRDA, Kurnool.
In Nandyal, Rs 166.96 crore was deposited into the accounts of 25,936 SHGs under the DRDA and the MEPMA.
