Banks processed Mudra loans worth 6L- cr: Modi

New Delhi, May 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that loans worth ` 6 lakh crore have been given to 12 crore beneficiaries under the Mudra scheme as he accused the previous governments of tokenism and not enough for small businesses.

Unlike the loan melas organised by previous governments, he said that the Pradhan Manrti Mudra Yojana ( PMMY) has helped and encouraged people to tread the unconventional path, fulfil their dreams and generate jobs for others by setting up businesses.

PMMY was launched by the Prime Minister on April 8, 2015, for providing loans of up to ` 10 lakh to the non- corporate, nonfarm small/ micro enterprises. Last fiscal, the government extended ` 2.53 lakh crore credit under the Mudra Yojana, while ` 5.73 lakh crore has been extended in last 3 years.

Interacting with Mudra beneficiaries from across the country through a video conference, the Prime Minister said that under the loan melas, which were organised with great fanfare, loans were provided to selected persons and no one bothered about their repayment.

Do you know 25- 30 years ago there used to be loan melas for political benefit and people who were close to politicians used to gets loans with no intension of returning them. There used to be great fan fare but no one bothered to find the end results, he said.

The NDA government did not organise any loan melas or gave space to intermediaries. It trusted the country's youth and women to get loans directly from the banks and start their own small business, the Prime Minister said.