Himachal Pradesh gives rural women livelihood mission cover

Nearly 50,000 women from below poverty line in Himachal Pradesh have been covered under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) through 9,146 self help groups, an official said here on Monday.

Nearly 50,000 women from below poverty line in Himachal Pradesh have been covered under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) through 9,146 self help groups, an official said here on Monday.

Till date, 6,345 self help groups have been linked, with the banks providing them the credit of Rs.59.09 crore against the target of Rs.148 crore, the official government spokesperson told IANS.

He said a revolving fund of Rs.2.97 crore has been distributed amongst the self help groups.

The aim of NRLM, operational in the state since April 2013, is to reach out to all poor families and support them till they come out of poverty.

"In the first phase of its implementation, five blocks -- Kandaghat, Mandi Sadar, Nurpur, Haroli and Basantpur -- have been selected as intensive blocks whereas the remaining blocks would be covered in a phased manner in the next four years," said the spokesperson.

The major focus of the state government in this fiscal would be on social mobilisation, institution building and creation of human resource, added the spokesperson.

The Centre has approved Rs.1,492.11 lakh since inception of the programme. The state's contribution is Rs.333 lakh.

In Himachal Pradesh, the National Rural Livelihood Mission would be covering all families below the poverty line initially.

Later, poorest of the poor and families which are marginally above the poverty line will be covered under the ambit of the National Rural Livelihood Mission.

All the self help groups have been linked with banks for micro financing. Under the programme, a bank would provide a loan of Rs.200,00-300,000 on seven percent interest to each self help group for initially starting its venture which would be repeated up to Rs.10 lakh depending on its performance.

In Shimla and Mandi district, the banks will lend to all women self help groups up to Rs.300,000 at seven percent interest.

These self help groups will also get additional interest subvention of three percent on regular repayment of loan, reducing the effective rate of interest to four percent. This interest subvention is being provided by the central government.

To ensure smooth process by the self help groups, the bank linkages and delivery of interest subvention, a sub-committee of state-level bankers committee has been constituted.