Ease lending norms for artisans, weavers: Amit Mitra to FM Sitharaman

For artisans, Mitra said, out of 48,153 applications, 29,656 were rejected in the same six-month period, a rejection rate of 62 percent

Former West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra has asked the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to make norms for bank lending easier for small-scale weavers and artisans and other similar workers, citing the high rate of rejection for such loan applications in the state.

In a letter to Sitharaman, dated January 9, Mitra said of 15,928 weavers from West Bengal who applied for loans from April-September 2022, around 10,108 had their applications rejected, even though their applications had been vetted by the District Industries Centres (DIC). That is a rejection rate of 66 per cent, according to Mitra, who is