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Officials of the state level bankers committee and allied functionaries.[/caption]
Dimapur, April 8 (EMN): The state level bankers committee (SLBC) has approved the targets of the Nagaland State Rural Livelihoods Mission (NSRLM) for credit linkage to 1000 self-help groups (SHG) amounting to ten crore for the financial year 2019-20.
A press release from the program manager of the NSRLM stated on Monday that the approval was given during a meeting on April 8.
The SLBC’s 3rd quarter of December-end meeting was held in Kohima, and presided over by Temjen Toy, chief secretary of Nagaland. He is also chairperson of the committee, the press release stated.
The NSRLM was stated to have discussed strategies to achieve progress in financial inclusion initiatives in Nagaland. A Bank Sakhi (BS) or community cadre, will be placed at bank branches where saving bank accounts of SHG exist.
It will address issues of the SHG or their members, the press release stated. A community based repayment mechanism committee (CBRM) will be made functional in all the bank branches to oversee timely repayment of loans availed by the SHG, the updates stated.
Further, the press release stated, the state shall develop human resource from among bankers and ex-bankers, sponsor them to undergo training in financial literacy, and utilise them as ‘state master trainers’ for staff as well as SHG members.
The updates stated also that an “alternate banking model” through identification of SHG members as business correspondents (BC Sakhi) shall be positioned in interior villages. They are to function as customer service points to take financial services to the doorsteps of every rural household, the press release stated.
‘In order to have maximum participation of the community for scaling up financial benefits, the state mission is looking forward for early constitution of SLBC sub-committee on SHG bank linkage, district level coordination committee, block level coordination committee, in accordance with the directive of the Reserve Bank of India,’ the press release explained.
“The SHGs have its own bank linkage sub-committees at village level to look into the welfare of its members while promoting good repayment of loans. The NSRLM have structured its human resource at state, district, block level respectively and master bookkeepers (MBK) at the village level,” the NSRLM stated.
The other major targets of the state mission’s annual action plan (AAP) for the financial year 2019-20, approved by the empowered committee include sponsoring bank officials for orientation programs on NRLM SHG bank linkage; enrolment of members under social security schemes viz. schemes; train SHG in financial literacy; and opening of SHG members’ saving bank accounts, the press release stated.
The NSRLM has expressed gratitude to the SBI for ‘assuring to provide credit linkage to NSRLM SHG as sought in the target plan,’ the press release added.