Prime Minister’s pull up bankers

Visakhapatnam: Lok Sabha members from Visakhapatnam and Araku Dr K Haribabu and Kothapalle Gita pulled up the bankers for not grounding Central government-sponsored loan schemes, thereby ignoring the priority sector lending, depriving the unemployed the benefits of the government schemes.

At the bankers meeting, presided over the by the District Collector, Praveen Kumar, here on Tuesday, Dr Haribabu sought to know from the bankers why only 34,831 loan accounts were opened for sanction of Rs 300 crore under Prime Minister’s Mudra scheme when lakhs of hawkers and small time traders have been waiting for bank assistance under the scheme.

Praveen Kumar asked the officials to prepare a list of small time traders mandal-wise and provide it to the bankers and see that the loans were sanctioned. Already identity cards have been issued to over 10,000 hawkers and traders in the GVMC limits, the Collector said.

The MP said the case was similar with regard to Stand Up India and Kisan Credit Cards. He said under Stand Up India scheme only 37 entrepreneurs were given loans to start industries and added that the banks were diluting the scheme by denying opportunities to lakhs of SC/ST entrepreneurs.The Collector said the district has 738 banks and suggested the officials to coordinate with the banks to ground at least two units from each bank. He also asked the agriculture officials and bankers to sanction Kisan Credit cards.

Araku MP Kothapalle Gita said in the name of schedule areas, the employees were being denied housing loans. She asked the Collector to direct the banks to extend housing loans to all the eligible employees in the scheduled areas of the district.Lead bank district manager D Sarat Babu said district annual plan was set for Rs 10,340 crore but on the advice of State Level Bankers Committee, it has been raised to Rs 14,149 crore.