The State government has generated revenue of more than Rs. 440 crore from the 220 and odd sand reaches allocated to women self-help groups (SHGs) in the State, C. S. Rama Lakshmi, Advisor to the Government, Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) has said.
“In addition to their income, the SHGs are paid Rs. 5 per every cubic metre of sand as incentive. Today, nearly 6.5 million members of 65 lakh SHGs across the State have savings to the tune of Rs. 5,000 crore. This is in addition to the financial assistance of nearly Rs. 6,000 crore given to them annually by the banks,” Ms. Rama Lakshmi told The Hindu .
Admitting the ‘sluggishness’ on part of SHGs in loan repayment in the recent past, she attributes it to a misconception “as the women members mistook it for waiver.”
Speaking about Stree Nidhi Bank that provides microfinance to SHGs, she said it lends assistance of Rs. 1,000 crore to women, in addition to the Community Investment Fund of Rs. 400 crore. Ms. Lakshmi says Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is keen on taking these schemes to the interior areas. “It’s a women’s movement aimed at improving their living standards. AP has tremendous opportunity and women here are very enterprising. Paddy-procurement worth Rs. 1200 crore has fetched them earnings to the tune of Rs. 38 crore,” she said.
The face of AP is set to change, she claims. “Toy industry being set up by the GMR in Kakinada SEZ has provided direct employment to 4,000 women. The proposed food and textile parks will also have ample scope for employment, especially the textile park where 90 per cent of the jobs will go to women,” she says.
Speaking about the ‘smart village’ concept, she says the idea is to ensure “at least one SHG member in each household and every village should have viable income-generating activities, be it agriculture, dairy farming, horticulture, fisheries or poultry.” “I see more and more girls opting for technical and management courses. Even if 15 per cent of them become entrepreneurs, imagine the kind of change that will happen here,” she says.