Devprasad Mozumder inaugurates the loan camp in Hazaribagh on Wednesday. (Vishvendu Jaipuriar)

Hazaribagh, June 8: Self-help groups (SHGs) had a reason to cheer as they got loans from the State Bank of India (SBI) today.

The occasion was a mega loan camp at the town hall, which saw SBI general manager of Bihar and Jharkhand Devprasad Mozumdar distributing a sum of Rs 2 crore among 296 groups.

The bank also feted Ram Lakhan Ram, a resident of Daru village who learnt the technique of using infertile soil to its best advantage in Jalgaon, Maharashtra. He developed a mango orchard as well as grew other fruit trees on 10 kathas of land at Daru. Mozumder said Ram had shown the rest how to make the most of unused land.

Mozumder, who was the chief guest, said the SBI boasted the maximum number of links with SHGs in the country. In Jharkhand, the bank is connected to 35,000 groups and will meet a target of helping 6,000 more within a few months.

“To get a loan, new SHGs will have to work for minimum two years,” he added.

According to him, the main objective of helping SHGs is to provide a common platform to all artisans — right from financing to helping them send their products to bigger markets through NGOs.

Mozumder also said chief minister Arjun Munda had appreciated the bank’s efforts.

Regional manager of SBI Sanjay Kumar said work had started for installation of 12 new ATM machines in Hazaribagh town. One will be installed at the district collectorate.

Other SBI officers present on the occasion were deputy general manager Pankaj Verma and additional general managers Kaushik Sinha and L.K.P. Singh.