Guwahati, July 12: Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today announced that around 10 lakh women from rural and backward areas of the state will be linked with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) every year to help them avail of various government schemes.
Sarma said the initiative started from this financial year.
"From this financial year, the state government will spend Rs 500 crore for development of various self-help groups (SHGs) of the state. We aim to form SHGs in every corner of Assam and to fulfil our aim we have also formed a task force to monitor the progress," Sarma said at a function held on the occasion of the 36th foundation day of Nabard here today.
Sarma said in this financial year, the state government is aiming to provide financial help to 5 lakh SHGs and loan under Kisan Credit Card with zero interest to all farmers.
"Investing in SHGs is not a financial but social investment. By investing in SHGs, we can ensure not only financial uplift among rural women but also social uplift like awareness on health, birth control and education," Sarma said.
During today's function, the finance minister felicitated some successful SHGs, joint liability groups, NGOs and banks for their success in working for rural development. A joint liability group is an informal group of 4 to 10 individuals for the purpose of availing of bank loans either singly or through the group mechanism against a mutual guarantee.
Bowari and Seuji SHGs from Morowa and Nankarbhaira respectively in Nalbari district, Bipadnasini SHG from Bajaltola in Tinsukia and Abotani SHG from Kosutoli in Dhemaji were recognised by Nabard as top SHGs of the state.
Lakhimi joint liability group from Dibrugarh, Beauty JLG from Tinsukia and Ujjwal JLG from Sonitpur were awarded for their contributions. Three NGOs, Janashakti VIkash Mancha from Nalbari, Women Development Centre for Development from Dhemaji and Mastermind Society for Development from Sivasagar were given the best NGO title.
Nabard also felicitated branch managers of Doboka (Nagaon) and Kalgachia (Barpeta) of Assam Gramin Vikash Bank and the manager of the Nalbari branch of IDBI for providing best services in rural development.
