HYDERABAD: BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Friday urged the state government release Rs. 4,000 crore, which were interest arrears that had to be paid to women in self-help groups (SHGs) under Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA)as a Raksha Bandhan gesture.
In a letter to Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, Sanjay said that on a day when women across the country celebrate the festival, those in SHGs belonging to DWCRA have been in distress for eight years in the absence of financial support from the state government.
The BJP leader said that there were 3,99,120 women SHGs under Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) and 1,81,225 members under Mission for Elimination of Poverty in Municipal Areas (MEPMA).
“Though the state government has claimed to have earmarked Rs. 3,000 crore towards payment of interest to women groups in 2021-22, it has not released the same. Similarly, in the financial year 2022-23, the government allotted Rs. 1,250 crore but so far, not a rupee was released,” he said.
If these women groups do not pay interest, they are under pressure from banks. “It is because of the indifferent attitude of the state government that banks are declaring the self-help groups as defaulters,” he said.
