Aizawl: The Mizoram government on Wednesday signed agreements with partner banks to provide loans to beneficiaries under the state’s flagship ‘Bana Kaih’ (handholding) scheme.
The Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was signed with three partner banks – State Bank of India (SBI), Mizoram Rural Bank (MRB) and Mizoram Cooperative Apex Bank Ltd. (MCAB) – in the presence of Chief Minister Lalduhoma in Aizawl.
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The Bana Kaih scheme, launched by Lalduhoma on September 19, aims to provide financial assistance and support to entrepreneurs and farmers (referred to as progress partners) across the state through targeted programmes designed to promote economic growth and self-sufficiency.
The initiative contributes to the United Nations sustainable development goals. It offers an innovative approach to addressing the issue of institutional credit availability, particularly microcredit, for agriculture and small industrial endeavours.
One of the key components of the scheme is handholding the progress of partners (beneficiaries), under which the government will provide financial support and offer loans of up to Rs 50 lakh to beneficiaries through partner banks.
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The government will serve as a guarantor for these project loans under existing national credit guarantee schemes.
Beneficiaries who repay their loans on time or regularly will be eligible for an interest subvention of up to 100 per cent.
The scheme also includes the Chief Minister’s Special Category Scheme, which provides a grant-in-aid of up to Rs 1 lakh to beneficiaries who are unable to avail loans but have significant livelihood projects.
The state government has allocated Rs 200 crore for implementing the Bana Kaih scheme during the fiscal year 2024-25. Another key component of the Handholding Scheme is providing market support.
As part of this initiative, the government has introduced a minimum support price for four key crops – ginger, turmeric, Mizo Bird’s Eye chilli and broomsticks.