Port Blair, Dec 20: The ANOFED Chairman and Vice Chairman of Andaman and Nicobar State Cooperative Bank called for the concerted efforts by the Self Help Groups (SHG) to achieve self sufficiency in Little Andaman.
Inaugurating the Seminar on the Role of Self Help Group in empowerment of Women organized by the Press Information Bureau as part of five day long Bharat Nirman Public Information Campaign(PIC), Kuldeep Rai sharma called upon the self help group members to take initiatives to become the small scale entrepreneurs by getting the finance assistance from the bank, so that the products being procured from Port Blair and mainland can be produced locally. Complimenting the efforts taken by the rural women to form more than 350 self help groups in the remote island, he said the recovery rate of loans sanctioned to the SHGs by the banks is very high and out of 350 crore rupees about 300 crores were already recovered.
He said this trend shows that the groups are functioning successfully in profitable manner. However, he expressed concern that only 50 among 350 self help groups availed loans from bank to start their new ventures. He appealed all the SHG members to make their groups more active to enable them t avail financial assistance from the banks for different commercial ventures, so that the standard of living in the rural areas will be improved considerably. Iif all the groups start their small scale ventures, Little Andaman need not be dependant on Port Blair for vegetables, fruits and other consumable items, he added.
Mr Sharma said still more than 70 per cent of the people live in rural areas and the Bharat Nirman programme launched by the UPA government is aimed at changing the face of rural India by providing all the facilities in the rural areas.
He also emphasized that self employment ventures, education and training are vital for the empowerment of rural women. He assured them that the AN State Cooperative bank will arrange for training on fashion designing, tailoring, skill development, computer operations etc. for the SHG members free of cost to make them empowered with the required skills.
He also informed that the Andaman Nicobar State Cooperative Bank will start core banking services from February next year to enable the rural people to avail all the modern banking services at their doorsteps.
The Managing Director of Andaman and Nicobar Cooperative Bank, Ravider Rao informed that the bank already started banking services at the doorsteps of the people through the smart cards issued to them, The beneficiaries under Central Flag Ship programmes National Old age pension scheme, besides widow pension and disabled financial assistance will be disbursed cash at their doorsteps every month by the visiting bank staff with portable card swiping machines. He also assured that once the core banking facility is launched, the bank will establish its own ATM centres even in the remote islands including Little Andaman.
Delivering key note address, the General Manager of NABARD, Athirshtavel informed that the NABARD will offer financial assistance up to 10 lakh rupees to set up milk chilling plants in rural areas. He called upon the Self Help Group members to avail this facility to start their own dairy plants to fulfil the requirements of local people, besides marketing the milk products to Port Blair and even main land. He also assured that the NABARD will extend all necessary assistance to market the milk products. He said the fresh milk available in plenty in rural areas can be stored in the chilling plants in 6 degree Celsius temperature and the stored milk can be used for making milk kovas to be marketed in Port Blair and near by areas.
He also announced that the NABARD has planned to provide intensive training to the enterprising rural women on computer skills, tailoring, candle making, poultry, Beautician and dairy farming etc. for their social empowerment. He is hoped that such skill training programme by NABARD will pave way for economic empowerment of women groups too.
During the programme, a Quiz contest has been conducted by the Women development officer, Elizabeth to test the knowledge of the SHG members on SHG formation and related issues. In the end, the Nodal officer for PIC, Dhanasekarn presented the Bharat Nirman Mementos to the resource persons. (PIB)
