Guwahati: The Assam government on Thursday launched a new scheme ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Udyamita Asoni’ for 3.9 million rural women associated with self-help groups (SHGs) aimed to help 3.9 million women associated with 7 lakh self-help groups (SHGs) across the state.
Initially, the state government will incur an additional expenditure of Rs 3,900 crore for the implementation of the scheme.
Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said: “This scheme is launched to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji’s vision of building 2 crore lakhpati didis across the country. Today we’ve proudly unveiled a new effort to offer Rs 35,000 financial assistance to 39 lakh rural women.”
“We already have a scheme for women SHGs in which around 700,000 women associated with SHGs have become ‘lakhpatis’. The new scheme will help to those women who want to start their entrepreneurial journey separately from the SHGs they are associated with,” Sarma said.
In the first phase, each applicant will be provided with a grant of Rs 10,000 for the first year to start any business from a list of 145 business plans prepared by the state government.
The total amount earmarked by the scheme as part of the state annual budget is Rs 3,900 crore, making it the biggest such scheme in the state.
To be eligible for the grant, women from the general and other backward caste (OBC) categories (except from the Moran, Muttock and tea-tribe communities) will need to have not more than three children.
Women from Moran Muttock and tea-tribe communities will be eligible if they have four or lesser number of children.
Women from Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) categories, will not qualify for the scheme if they have more than four children.
“In the second year, each woman will get a bank loan of Rs 12,500 from banks and the same amount as a grant from the state government. The loan sanctioned by the bank has to be refunded but the fund provided by the state government need not be refunded,” the chief minister said.
Altogether 3.9 million women are associated with rural villages while 3 lakh work in urban areas of the state.