Through loan melas in the 1980s, Janardhan Poojary, Minister of State for Finance, first under Indira Gandhi and then Rajiv Gandhi, made revolutionary contribution in popularising cheap credit.
Emphasis on such credit had started under Indira Gandhi in 1972 with the Differential Rate of Interest (DRI) scheme. Banks, mostly government-owned, had to allocate at least one per cent of loans to weaker sections, including small and marginal farmers, at highly subsidised four per cent annual interest, a rate adopted against the advice of an expert group appointed for this purpose. DRI continues, but with very limited success. Targeted borrowers are apathetic
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