Banks disburse over Rs 1.15 lakh cr under PM Mudra Yojana

Banks have so far disbursed over Rs 1.15 lakh crore under Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY), Financial Services Secretary Anjuly Chib Duggal said today.
Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd (MUDRA) focuses on 5.75 crore self-employed who use funds totalling Rs 11 lakh crore and provide jobs to 12 crore people.
Under PMMY, loans between Rs 50,000 and Rs 10 lakh are provided to small entrepreneurs.
"We have been working with MUDRA. It has been a runaway success...We are looking at Rs 1.15 lakh crore plus right now," she said at an event organised by MFIN here.
The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April last year.

Three products available under the PMMY are Shishu, Kishor and Tarun, to signify the stage of growth and funding needs of the beneficiary micro unit or entrepreneur.

Shishu covers loans of up to Rs 50,000 while Kishor covers those above Rs 50,000 and up to Rs 5 lakh. Tarun category provides loans of above Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 10 lakh.
With regard to Banks Board Bureau, Duggal said, she would be meeting newly appointed chairman Vinod Rai this week to discuss operationalisation of this specialised body.
Last month Rai, a former CAG, was appointed head of Banks Board Bureau by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The bureau will give recommendations on appointment of directors in public sector banks and advise on ways to raise funds and mergers and acquisitions to the lenders.
There are 22 state-owned banks in India including SBI, IDBI Bank and Bhartiya Mahila Bank.
Besides, she said that there would be meeting of heads of the bank on March 22 to discuss about the recently launched crop insurance scheme by Prime Minister.
"On the one hand government talks about opening more
branches, while at the same time new licences are also being given which is contradictory in nature. Besides, the government has said it wants to create 4-5 large bank by merging around 20-22 other banks into them. We want to oppose that," Singh said.

Bank of India, Union Bank, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank are expected to be the banks that may be asked to merge other entities into them, he said.
Unions are protesting against FDI in banking sector and other demands such as no privatisation of public sector banks, said Ashwani Rana, Vice-President of the National Organisation of Bank Workers, an affiliate of UFBU.
"Even during the sub-prime crisis which shook the western economies and decimated several and huge banks there, Indian PSBs survived without any harm due to their intrinsic value. They have contributed hundreds of thousands crores of profits and taxes to the government's resources," AIBOC asserted.

Singh said western interests are hell-bent on penetrating the vast resources of PSBs through the advice of consultation firms hailing from west.
Labour laws are also being penetrated into by the government in the name of easing the business environment, just to sub-serve the capitalist interests, foreign players and to the detriment of the working class, Singh added.
"AIBOC will continue to struggle against the wrongful policies of the government with many more to follow, if the government does not mend its actions," he said further.