ITANAGAR, Jul 20: Arunachal Pradesh today witnessed a record disbursal of credit amounting to more than Rs 8.27 crore to a total of 789 Self Help Groups (SHGs) under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
In the event held at the Chief Secretary’s Conference Hall in the Civil Secretariat which has been termed as ‘historic’ by the state government, Chief Minister Pema Khandu virtually disbursed the loans to the district-based SHGs. The one-time record credit disbursal event was part of the Central Government’s ‘Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav’ to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence and 91 years of Mahatma Gandhi’s historic Dandi March. Of the total sanctioned loan amount of Rs 8,27,47,000, in terms of descending order of share, Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank (APRB) doled out the maximum (Rs 49,046,000), followed by State Bank of India (Rs 2,26,0100) and Arunachal Pradesh State Cooperative Apex Bank (APSCAB) (Rs 1,11,00,000).
The Arunachal State Rural Livelihood Mission (ArSRLM) of the state Rural Development department is currently implementing the DAY-NRLM in 22 districts and has brought 33,516 rural households under it. Commending the ArSRLM, especially its block level coordinators, Khandu informed that savings, thrift and micro finance support to the SHGs under DAY-NRLM have been instrumental in initiating a transformational change at the household level in rural areas. “We are striving hard to address the formidable challenge of financial inclusion in rural areas where our citizens are not having a desired level of access to financial services. ArSRLM is taking forward the state government’s vision of deepening financial inclusion by providing access to affordable and appropriate financial services which would contribute towards improving the state’s GDP and lowering income inequality,” he said. Asserting that it’s the vision of the state government to transform the state’s rural economy, Khandu said that a proper roadmap has to be evolved to take the process further.
“I will soon be having a brainstorming with the concerned minister, coordinators and partner banks to take financial inclusion further into the rural areas besides increasing the loan amounts,” the CM informed. “It is a matter of pride that we today have about 3796 SHGs, mostly of women, across the state. Our aim should be to handhold each of them through all means at our disposal. We also have to bring in all these SHGs under the SHG Bank Linkage Programme,” he observed, adding further said that the role of the government doesn’t end with providing loan. “At the end of the day, each SHG would have to repay the principal amount plus interest to the bank. This is a business model and to enable the SHGs to profitably use the loan amount we need to give them the market linkage. This should be seriously taken into account by departments like Agriculture and allied sectors and agencies like the Arunachal Pradesh Marketing Board,” Khandu stressed.

Speaking at the event, Rural Development Minister Bamang Felix lauded the ArSRLM officials, especially its block coordinators for their efforts at the grassroots level and for successfully transforming the mothers associated with the SHGs. Citing the experiences shared by SHG members from across the state during the virtual meeting, Felix said that due to efforts of these officials, mothers associated with the SHGs are not only becoming self-reliant but also are more confident now in the social sphere. Informing that there are 3796 SHGs in the state with more than 33,000 mothers as its respective members, Felix said that if a mother is made aware of the livelihood avenues, it is not just her who would prosper, but her entire family too. Congratulating the SHGs for getting the loans, he expressed confidence that mothers involved with the SHGs would not misuse the money and duly repay to the banks. 
The RD Minister appealed to the banks to increase the loan amounts in the coming days and make the process of availing credit more accessible. He also lauded the commitment of the bankers to undertake the initiative as a social welfare goal rather than a financial transaction and appealed to all the SHG members to get vaccinated and strictly adhere to Covid Appropriate Behaviour.
Among others, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Secretary Amarnath Talwade, officials of the SBI, APRB and APSCAB participated in the event. With inputs from CMO 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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