AGARTALA, May 4 (PTI): Asserting that banks have become nodal agencies for development, Tripura deputy chief minister Jishnu Dev Varma on Wednesday asked bankers to be a little generous in disbursing assistance to the Self-Help Groups (SHGs).
At present, the state has around 34,000 SHGs, the members of whom earn a livelihood by taking up various self-employment schemes.
“In Tripura, SHGs have become a movement and they need help from banks. I won’t say the banks should be reckless but they need to be a little generous towards the SHGs,” Dev Varma said at a financial literacy programme.
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He said the loan recovery rate from the SHGs is exceptionally good with only 1.83 per cent NPA.
“The SHGs are working for the development of the state. Bankers must come forward and play a pivotal role in strengthening the women empowerment movement,” said the deputy CM who holds the finance portfolio.
He said the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, a financial inclusion programme of the Centre, has democratised banks.
“In India, 60 per cent of the accounts opened under Jan Dhan Yojana are owned by women, which is a remarkable achievement in a country like ours. Earlier, banks were meant only for the rich, upper-middle- and upper-class people. Now, everybody is going to the bank,” he said.
Dev Varma also exhorted bankers to invest in the tourism sector saying it has a bright future.
“Earlier, tourism in the northeast could not take off due to insurgency. Now, this has changed after Narendra Modi came to power. At present, we discuss only development,” he claimed.
