PALAKKAD: The State-level inauguration of the Muttathe Mulla scheme which involves the disbursement of loans at low rates of interests to rural households was performed by Cooperation Minister Kadakampally Surendran here on Tuesday.
The programme was organised under the auspices of the Mannarkkad Rural Service Cooperative Bank and is being implemented in Palakkad district as a pilot project. The scheme is aimed at liberating women from the blade mafia and also micro-finance companies; the latter's interest rates vary between 24 and 30 per cent. It seeks to disburse loans at lower rates of interest and the women have to repay it on a weekly basis. The scheme is being implemented with the support of Kudumbashree.
Under the scheme, each woman will be disbursed a loan between Rs 1,000 and Rs 25,000. The loans will also be given to close old loans taken from blade companies which can be settled on a one-time basis. The interest rate will be 12 per cent, that is Rs 1 for a loan of Rs 100 for one month.
Loans which can be repaid in 10 weeks were also available. The scheme is being implemented in each ward through the first three units of the Kudumbashree. The Kudumbashree units will be selected based on its efficiency in its working and its credibility.
The members of Kudumbashree will go to the houses of its members who need loans and disburse it to them. They will go to the houses on a weekly basis and collect the loan repayment. Based on the demand for loans, the primary cooperative societies will disburse loans amounting to Rs 10 lakh to the Kudumbashree units at 9 per cent rate of interest.
The first cash credit to the Kudumbashree was disbursed by N Shamsudheen MLA. The first loan to the beneficiary was disbursed by M B Rajesh MP. P K Shashi MLA was the chief guest.Also present were District Collector D Balamurali, Cooperative Department secretary P Venugopal, Kudumbashree executive director S Harikishore, joint registrar of Cooperative societies (General) M K Babu, joint registrar of Cooperative societies (Audit) P Subash Chandran, Assistant Registrar P Udayan, Mannarkad Rural Service Co-operative Bank secretary M. Purushothaman and representatives of the grama panchayat.