Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde today urged banks to provide loans at zero per cent interest to members of women self help groups (SHGs) in the state in order to make them financially independent.
Inaugurating a rally and exhibition of SHGs, organised by Rural Development department here, Munde stressed on the need to empower rural women and bring them into the mainstream of industry.
The minister apprised that an e-portal has been designed to ensure promotion and sale of the products of SHGs not only in the state but also in the country and abroad.
"State government is very serious about offering market to SHG products. It is building a big mall in Nagpur for the purpose where space would mandatorily be made available for exhibition of SHG products," she said.
Stating that land has been made available for the Nagpur mall, Munde said similar arrangement would also be made available in other districts as well.
She said the government would launch various courses for counselling of the members of farmer suicide-affected families and impart skill development training to 58,000 youth of the state under Pandit Deendayal Skill Development Scheme.
About 75 per cent of these youth would be absorbed into self-employment, she added.
On other initiatives undertaken by the government, the minister said that to give benefit of Gharkul scheme to BPL families, survey of 2011 will be taken into account and benefit of the scheme would be extended to four lakh people in the state.
Instead of waiving loans of farmers, government believed in making them debt-free, Munde said, adding that excellent work has been done in the state under the Jalyukta Shivar Scheme.
Munde also gave a word of comfort to anganwadi sevikas
(workers) by informing that a provision of Rs 328 crore has been made in the budget to pay their pending honorarium till 2014 and increased honorarium of 2015.
"It will be deposited in their accounts. Rs 48 crore has already been released," she said.
"Water-filled bodies, gharkuls (houses) to the poor and roads in villages under Prime Minister Rural Roads Scheme were the dreams of my father, Gopinath Munde. Having done best work under Jalyukta Shivar scheme, one of his dreams has been achieved," she said.
Munde said that managing home and hearth is not a bane but a boon.
"It's a work of great responsibility. Women should not shy away from it. This responsibility is essential to instill good values in our wards," she told the gathering and called for making mothers and women in the society competent.
She urged women not to indulge in female foeticide and said it is the responsibility of every woman to let the foetus in her womb grow and let the girl see the world.
She said that her department was providing all help for uplift of girls under 'Mazi Kanya Bhagyashree Kanya' scheme.
The five-day Vikas Gangotri exhibition has 200 stalls displaying various articles made by SHGs.
