Sehore: 1,644 fishermen deprived of Machua credit cards

Sehore (Madhya Pradesh): Even after two years of the implementation of Machua Credit Card scheme by the MP government, as many as 1,644 fishermen of Nasrullaganj in Sehore district have been deprived of Machua credit cards, which were a part and parcel of the scheme.

The scheme, which was aimed at providing financial assistance to the fishermen, has failed to meet the objective, owing to the delay in the formalities and other processes conducted by the banks. As per the statistics, as many as 2000 Machau credit cards were slated to be issued in the current year, of which only 356 have been made and disbursed to beneficiaries, while the future of other fishermen is in limbo.

Despite orders issued by the State Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan with regard to implementation of the scheme, the prolonged formalities and other procedures by cooperative banks as well as other banks have put the fishermen in a tight spot. A beneficiary of the scheme, Bharat Raikwar, while talking to the media, said that the banks were seeking proof of ownership of land and compulsory registration in any credit committees. He added that on finding none of them, the bank cited rules and refused issuing credit cards.