AP forms 4 committees for implementing ordinance on MFIs

The Andhra Pradesh government today constituted four working committees for effective implementation of an ordinance issued by it to regulate the functioning of Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs).

"It was noticed that there are many queries from both MFIs and the district-level Registering Authorities (RA) about interpretation of provisions of the Ordinance. Besides, there are many writ petitions filed before High Court challenging various provisions of the Ordinance and the Rules," a GO issued by Rural Development department said.

"Government, after considering the above, with a view to respond quickly to the queries from the field on implementation of the MIF Ordinance, to improve the credit flows to SHGs and to put in place the IT system for efficient implementation of the Ordinance, hereby constitute the following working committees with immediate effect," it said.

The committees, comprising senior officials, constituted by the government are: Implementation committee, Legal Committee, Capacity Building Committee and IT Committee.

The Implementation Committee will be responsible for receiving and clarifying queries from the RAs on a day-to-day basis, for reviewing the complaints received from the public about the MFI irregularities and ensure swift action and to guide all other committees among other responsibilities.
    
The Legal Committee would monitor the cases in the High Court and Supreme Court and assist the counsel fighting the cases. The Capacity Building Committee would prepare material for educating the SHG members about the provisions of the Ordinance, the GO said.
    
The IT Committee's responsibility is to create and maintain the website for MFIs integrating the databases of SHG bank linkage, ration cards and borrowers data being submitted by MFIs so as to arrive at an integrated database of rural and urban indebtedness, it said.
    
All committees would submit daily reports to CEO of Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) and Principal Secretary of Rural Development on the work done and the work yet to be done in fulfilment of the mandate given to them.
    
The state government had issued an ordinance on October 15 to rein in the MFIs whose coercive methods allegedly led to suicides of a number of people in the state.