Mudra plan Helped oVer 12 crore people in 3 Years
The Mudra Scheme grants loans to citizens who have a small business activity in manufacturing, processing, trading or service sector.
The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 to facilitate the growth of micro units through channelised loans directly from the banking sector, has already benefitted over six crore people belonging to backward castes in the last three years, according to a report tabled by the Ministry of Finance in the Lok Sabha earlier this month.
A total of around 12 crore people across the country have been successfully given loans under the Mudra Yojana since 2015, to set up or fund their micro units. Such people include artisans, manufacturers, shopkeepers as well as fruit and vegetable vendors.
Among the 12 crore ben- eficiaries, over 6 crore, 59 lakh beneficiaries belong to the backward castes, while over 2 crore 18 lakh beneficiaries belong to the Scheduled Castes and over 58 lakh beneficiaries belong to the Scheduled Tribes. More than 3 crore 82 lakh people, belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBCs), have been given loans under the Mudra Yojana during the last three years, as per the data given to the Lok Sabha by the Ministry of Finance.
A little over 5 crore 39 lakh people belonging to the General category have benefitted from the Mudra Yojana during the last three years.
States like Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh have seen the maximum number of beneficiaries belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from across the country.
The Mudra Scheme grants loans to citizens who have a business plan for micro or small business activity in manufacturing, processing, trading or service sector, and whose credit need is less than Rs 10 lakh. The loans are granted on the basis of categorisation—Shishu (allowed loans up to Rs 50,000) which is for a small start-up venture, Kishore (allowed loans up to Rs 5 lakh) is for companies or ventures that already exists, but need some sort of funding, and Tarun (allowed loans up to Rs 10 lakh) is a mature company or a venture that needs funding.
Several success stories of this scheme have also come to light that have changed the lives of several people. Birju Sah, a good cook from a small town in Bihar, had taken a loan under the Mudra Scheme to open a sweet shop in his locality and ever since then, he has been running it successfully.
Keya Sarkar, a housewife from the suburbs of Kolkata, realised her potential as a boutique designer after taking a loan of Rs four lakh under the scheme. She opened a boutique in her locality in New Barrackpore, Kolkata.
According to the Ministry of Finance’s report, the Mudra Yojana has been able to achieve more than the target fixed over the last three years. During the financial year 2015-16, the ministry had set a target to disburse Rs 1,22,188 crore under the scheme, but managed to disburse Rs 1,37,449 crore to beneficiaries. Even in financial year 2016-17, Rs. 1,80,529 crore was successfully disbursed against the target of Rs 1,80,000 crore. During financial year 201718, Rs 2,28,144 crore was disburse against the target of Rs 2,44,000 crore. Data for the financial year 2017-18 is, however, till 23 March 2018.
The Mudra scheme was launched by the Prime Minister as his pet project with the vision to facilitate the development of the micro enterprise sector by extending support, including financial support in terms of small time loans to micro business entrepreneurs and those looking to expand their enterprise.
Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla told the Lok Sabha that the government is also working towards effective campaigning and simplification of forms for loan amounts under the Mudra scheme. He also said that the ministry has launched an online portal for application, along with nomination of Mudra nodal officers for any grievances. Record sugar production in the country is all set to bring cheer to the consumers, with the prices expected to come down further. The production is expected to be about 45% higher than the last season.
The wholesale price of sugar, which was Rs 36-37 per kg six months ago, has come down to Rs 28-29 (a fall by Rs 7 to 8 per kg) due to bumper sugar production. According to Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), the production of sugar has reached 282 lakh tonne, as on 31 March, and is expected to touch 295 lakh tonne by September, end of the 2017-18 sugar season (October to September).
Interestingly, the total sugar production in the last season (2016-17) was 203 lakh tonne. Thus, the country is expected to produce 92 lakh tonne surplus sugar this season. India’s total estimated consumption is about 250 lakh tonne annually.
Because of the bumper