Marginalised suffer as banks refuse to provide loans in Telengana
HYDERABAD: Neelaveni of Ghatkesar wishes to set up a general store in her area. As someone who wants to set up a small-scale business, she is entitled to a loan without any security or guarantee under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. Under this scheme, people who wish to set up small and micro scale industries can avail a loan between `50,000 and `10 lakh.
However, Neelaveni had to return empty-handed and is currently struggling to make both ends meet. She spent a month trying to convince officials of Andhra Bank to give her a loan, but to no avail. Moreover, banks are refusing to provide loans and many others like Neelaveni have been suffering, BV Rama Rao, president of the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Industries (FAPI), points out.
“There are 49 banks that are supposed to give loans to people like Neelaveni who wish to set up businesses. However, they are being denied because there is no money. The prime minister’s measure to remove black money from the system is affecting the marginalised,” says Rama Rao. “The issue needs urgent attention as they are entirely dependent on these loans,” Rama Rao says and warns that the matter will be brought to RBI’s notice if banks do not provide loans.
After travelling across Andhra Pradesh and a few districts in Telangana, he said that people were finding it difficult to make transactions with high-denomination notes.
“There is an urgent need to print notes of lower denomination as people from the small-scale industry make transactions with them,” he points out.