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Journalism of Courage
He has not got a reply to his first letter sent four months ago, but Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh is not one to give up. He has again written to Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on lowering the interest rate on loans availed by BPL families under self-employment schemes from the current 10-12 per cent to 4-6 per cent.
The schemes, being implemented under the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), help organise self-help groups and provide income-generating assets through government subsidy and bank credit.
Singh argues that the interest rate on the loans should be lowered because they are aimed at helping the poor.
With no reply forthcoming on his first letter sent on July 1, Singh wrote to the Finance Minister again on October 8, urging him to consider bringing down the interest rate saying that the schemes were meant for poverty alleviation.
It is learnt that Finance Ministry officials only verbally assured the Rural Development Ministry that the suggestion was ‘‘being considered’’.
‘‘The interest rates charged on loans sanctioned for various sectors like housing have declined sharply over the last two years. A similar decline in interest rates has not taken place under Priority Sector Lending, including SGSY,’’ Singh reportedly wrote on July 1.
He also pointed out that the banks charge varying rates of interest on SGSY loans and that the ‘‘state governments have requested that a uniform rate of interest within a slab of 4-6 per cent may be applied to the BPL families.”
