Haryana's move for weavers' upliftment to face many obstacles
Even as Haryana gears to provide a facelift to the handloom weavers in the state, through signing of ‘Revival, Reform and Restructuring Package for Handloom Sector’, the future road seems to be mired with obstacles.
Haryana government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of India and NABARD for the upliftment of weavers in the state, through the scheme introduced by Centre, last year . The tripartite agreement would have Centre, NABARD and state government, as stakeholders with centre sharing 80 per cent of burden and rest being pooled by state government.
As per NABARD officials, the programme aims to cleanse the balance sheet of primary weaver societies and also provide respite to weavers taking loans up to Rs 25,000 from banks.
Senior NABARD officials, one of the stakeholders of the scheme, who preferred anonymity , stressed that there are many hurdles to be crossed before the scheme streamlines. Quantum of default is yet to be identified, only after which the lear picture of the state's share in the scheme would emerge.
According to officials, as per record available with the Registrar Co-operative Society, Haryana has around 359 weaver societies, however, how many are functional till date it is yet to be ascertained.
Also the fact that handloom sector in the state is being looked after by state industry department, it makes it more challenging to get the accurate data. The scheme, termed as the "Revival, Reform and Restructuring Package for Handloom Sector, was approved last year, for waiver of overdue loans for handloom sector.
As per the scheme, funds will be provided for repayment of 100 per cent of principal and 25 per cent of interest as on the date of loan becoming NPA and which was overdue as on March 31 2010 in respect of viable and potentially viable Primary Weavers Cooperative Societies and Apex Societies as well as in respect of individual handloom weavers, master weavers, Self Help Groups and Joint Liability Groups who have taken such loans for handloom weaving purposes, provided banks agree for sanctioning fresh loans.
There would be an overall ceiling of Rs 50,000 per beneficiary under this scheme in respect of waiver of overdues of individual handloom weavers. The scheme further reads the government has approved an interest subvention of three per cent for three years to be extended from the date of disbursal of the fresh loan to the eligible handloom cooperative societies and individual handloom weavers covered under this Scheme.
The interest subvention would not be available after the date on which a loan becomes non-performing asset.
About 80 per cent of the share of Government of India will be released upon the signing of the MoU by the state and completion of special audits by NABARD's team in the state, and the balance 20 per cent will be released upon the fulfillment of commitments by state government concerned after completing the legal and institutional reforms as per the MoU. The repayment from this package for loan waiver will be limited to 100 per cent of overdue principal and only 25 per cent of overdue interest as on the date of loan becoming non-performing asset (NPA). The balance 75 per cent of overdue interest and the entire penal interest, if any, will have to be written off by the bank as a pre-condition.
The challenge
After signing of MoU by the state government, an audit needs to be conducted to find out the number of Primary Weavers Cooperative Societies which are functional as well as number of handloom weavers in the state, which stands to gain from the scheme.
The auditors appointed would first be trained to conduct the audit. The entire auditing exercise in state is expected to completed by 31 December, 2012.
Although scheme is applicable to entire state, five districts in Haryana have been identified where handloom sector is dynamic. The districts include Panipat, Kaithal, Karnal, Bhiwani and Yamunanagar.
As per officials since no dedicated department is particularly taking care of handloom in the state , it would take some time to streamline the process so as the scheme could yield better results.