Mysuru: Widow of Covid warrior gets loan after protest

Mysuru: The widow of a Covid warrior finally got loan for her project after staging a protest in front of the bank. Manjula, a resident of Saraswatipura here lost her husband a few months back due to Covid-19. The loss of sole bred-winner has compelled Manjula to look for some source of income to run the household.

A mud jewellery making expert, Manjula who has founded Neeli Kala Creations, approached a nationalised bank for a loan of Rs 14.5 lakh to set up a small scale industry under Pradhana Mantri Employment Guarantee Programme (PMEGP) Yojana in October last year. She had made several visits to the bank which rejected her loan application for no reason. Enraged by the negligent attitude of the bank, Manjula staged a protest in front of the bank on January 17. This had instant effect as the bank officials visited her and agreed to provide the loan. Speaking to reporters, Manjula said she was disgusted with the attitude of the bank and decided to take up a silent agitation to get justice. Manjula has been making mud jewellery for almost a decade as a hobby. After the demise of her husband, she planned to take it up as a full-time job to make a living for herself and provide employment to others. According to her, mud jewellery has very good demand.

She said she even approached the district lead bank on the advice of Myuru -Kodagu MP Pratap Simha. The lead bank promised to provide a loan under MUDRA project but did not keep it. Inspired by Kannada movie Act 1978 with she had seen with her husband, she decided to stage a dharna.