The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Revolving funds for all urban SHGs by end of financial year: Stalin

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Wednesday, Jan 23, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Revolving funds for all urban SHGs by end of financial year: Stalin

Special Correspondent

Meetings will soon be held in all Corporations to distribute the money

— Photo : M. Vedhan

EXCHANGING GREETINGS: Local Administration Minister M.K.Stalin interacts with self-help group members at a function in Chennai on Tuesday.

CHENNAI: Revolving funds will be made available to all urban women self-help groups by the end of the financial year, Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin said on Tuesday.

He was speaking to The Hindu at a function held to distribute revolving funds to SHGs here, organised by the Rural Development Department and Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women.

He said the department would soon organise meetings in all Corporations in the State to distribute the funds. It would give each SHG Rs.10,000. Banks would provide a loan of Rs.15,000.

The SHGs could use the funds for setting up various businesses. They would be assessed at the end of six months.

58.39 lakh members

Addressing women SHG members, Mr. Stalin said the total membership in SHGs exceeded 58.39 lakh. There were just over 1.05 lakh SHGs in urban areas and 2.57 lakh SHGs in rural areas. They were in the forefront of ushering in a revolution of sorts, making women independent.

Mr. Stalin said all this was possible because of the polices of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government, which had restored the training allowance to SHG members to Rs.45 a day and took a series of measures to make sure that they functioned well.

The extension of revolving funds to urban SHGs was part of the plan to make them more vibrant and encourage them to realise their potential.

Mr. Stalin said the government also wanted to make sure that all SHG members had an identity card. The move would cost the government Rs.2.5 crore.

The cards would be made available to them in phases. He also distributed ID cards at the function.

Keeping a promise

Rural Development Secretary Ashok Vardhan Shetty said the government had announced last year that it would make available revolving funds to all SHGs. This announcement was being implemented now.

It had organised competitions across the State to bring out the latent talents of SHG members.

A member of SHG in Chennai, S. Vijayalakshmi, who spoke, said she would not have been able to address an audience if she had not been part of the movement. It was the SHG that she belonged to, Vidivelli, which gave her the courage to stand in front of a huge crowd and speak on their behalf.

Like her, thousands of other women were economically independent, thanks to the SHG movement.

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