Puri: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday announced loans at zero per cent interest for women Self Help Groups under Mission Shakti programme, at a special function here.
The interest-free loan will be limited to Rs 3 lakh and would benefit around 70 lakh women associated with six lakh SHGs.
At a state-level convention of Mission Shakti groups at Talabania Sports Complex here, Mr Patnaik also announced that cheques of Rs 15,000 will be given to three lakh new women SHGs as seed money.
Besides, the CM announced financial assistance of Rs 3,000 to each SHG to buy smartphones.
During the Make in Odisha conclave last year, the CM had announced smartphones for six lakh women SHGs in a bid to empower them digitally and accelerate their socio-political and economic empowerment.
This apart, revolving fund of Rs 25 lakh will be given to 338 existing block federations in the district.
More than 60,000 members from 29,000 women SHGs from various places across the state attended the programme.
In view of the CM’s visit to the pilgrim town, elaborate security arrangements were made to avoid any untoward incident during the programme. Earlier in the day, the Puri police took Jagannath Sena convener Priyadarshan Patnaik in preventive custody ahead of CM’s visit.
Incidentally, Mr Patnaik skipped the official programme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Baripada and attended the state-level convention of women SHGs. He had joined the PM in a programme at Argul in Jatni during the latter’s visit to the state on December 24.
