NEW DELHI: Central government’s Mahila Samridhi Yojana (MSY), meant for empowering women from weaker sections of the society, appears to have drawn a complete blank among scheduled caste (SC) women in the last financial year. The beneficiaries in more than a dozen states received no money under the scheme in the 2016-2017 fiscal.The National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSCFDC), which is the body responsible for implementing MSY among SC women, did not disburse even a single penny to 16 of 27 states and four Union Territories in India.
Under the scheme, women are given loans for entrepreneurship at low-interest rates. The beneficiaries of thisscheme are also given skill training.Sources say ‘strict norms’ for availing Mahila Samridhi Yojana and lack of coordination between NSCFDC and states is making the Yojana out of reach for SC women.
A senior ministry official explained that for implementation of the scheme, NSCFDC coordinates with channelising agencies in states and UTs and not directly with the state governments.
He said, “There are 13 states in the country, which have not been seeking funds under the scheme for the last 3-10 years. Most of these states fail to comply with norms.”
The official added that some states have also started opting for other schemes such as Term Loan and Micro Credit Finance over MSY. According to official data, accessed by The Sunday Standard, in 2016-2017, the government through NSCFDC allocated a total of Rs 87.8 crore, which sources say is much less than the budget outlay of NSCFDC under MSY. The NSCFDC’s total budget for MSY in the last fiscal was around `132 crore.