Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday allocated Rs 2.50 crore towards share capital assistance for members of the SC/ST communities in the urban cooperative banks with a view to enhancing their borrowing power. This measure would benefit 10,000 persons from the SC/ST communities.
At present, the State government is providing Rs five lakh as share capital for 1,000 members of SC/ST communities in the urban cooperative banks for availing of loans for small trades, non-farm and commercial loans. By providing interest-free share capital, their borrowing power is enhanced. Since the present allocation towards share capital is insufficient, the Chief Minister has directed that the share capital per member should be hiked from Rs 500 to Rs 2,500 and the entire amount should be provided as government grant.
During 2012-13, the Chief Minister has hiked the share capital assistance from Rs250 to Rs2,500 to members of SC/ST communities in the primary agricultural cooperative banks to enhance their borrowing power.
For this purpose, the Chief Minister has allocated Rs10 crore. Through this measure,40,000 members of SC/ST communities have been enabled to avail of loans up to Rs.50,000.