Mumbai : The BJP, while planning to give a big push to ‘loans for the needy’ through the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (Mudra) Bank scheme, is all set to widen its social base. A detailed strategy for the state was discussed at a high-level party meeting here on Monday.
It was decided that the party would make all possible efforts to set up facilitation centres at the smallest possible units — the wards in cities and talukas in rural area — under this scheme. The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis along with his senior cabinet colleagues, state BJP president Raosaheb Danve-Patil and Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thavar Chand Gehlot.
The Mudra Bank scheme, announced in April this year, plans to provide loans to 57.7 million small businesses and is described as one of the flagship schemes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While the Union government is planning to hold mega camps across the country for providing loans to the marginalised and those running enterprises in the unorganised sector from September 25 to October 2, the party is being geared up to reach out to those sections of the society where it had not reached till now.
“The party has asked every worker to approach the working class and inform them about the funding under the Mudra Bank scheme. We are going to set up one centre in each ward of a municipal corporation or a council,” state revenue minister Eknath Khadse, who was present at the meeting, told FPJ.
Explaining the need to target the working class, Khadse said, “These are the people who don’t get good jobs because of their weak educational qualification. Also, they don’t have enough money to start their own businesses. The Mudra scheme will help them in self-employment,” he said.
Under the Mudra Bank scheme, credit would be available in three categories viz. ‘Shishu’ (for the starters) for loans upto Rs 50,000, ‘Kishore’ (for mid-level organizations) for loans from over Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh and ‘Tarun’ (for slightly bigger businesses that are still out of the net of the formal banks) for loans up to Rs 10 lakh. The beneficiaries of these loans would be given a Mudra card (much like an ATM card), which is said to be saffron in color and would bear Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photograph.
According to the plan, the government would undertake the awareness campaign, the lead banks in their area would be entrusted in distributing loans and the party organisation would identify the potential recipients at the grassroots level.
Khadse, however, denied that there was a political motive behind the scheme. “The Mudra bank provides funds to the needy. Anyone can approach for funding irrespective of his political lineage. We are going to take an initiative because we believe that the scheme is a good one and should reach the right people,” he said.
“The facilitation centres will help the working class — which includes plumbers, electricians, carpenters, computer/mobile mechanics etc — get financial assistance. Such centres are a new concept. It will benefit both the service providers as well as the class that needs these services,” Khadse added.
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