Uttar Pradesh has excelled in a Central credit scheme for the self-employed in the unorganised sector by achieving over 88 per cent of the target.
The Swarojgar Credit Card (SCC) scheme was introduced in 2003 to provide easy and timely credit to artisans, handloom weavers and other such self-employed persons, especially in the rural areas.
Against the target of 30,000 cards in 2009-10 fiscal, different banks in UP have achieved the mark of 26,438, which is over 88 per cent of the target.
The scheme is implemented through commercial banks, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and cooperative banks. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is the nodal agency for monitoring this Central scheme.
“UP would certainly rank among the best performing states in promoting the SCC scheme among the targeted people,” Aryavart Gramin Bank (AGB) credit officer P P Srivastava told Business Standard.