Property alleviation scheme flops miserably in Manipur

Imphal, June 19: The Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna, which is said to be the most successful scheme of the country for eradication of poverty, has turned out to be a failure in Manipur even before its implementation. According to sources, the implementation of the scheme in the state has been nipped in the bud due to the refusal by the nationalized banks operating in the state to provide loans under the scheme, on the ground that loans recovery is negative in the state. The SGSY is a self-employment generation scheme for people living below the poverty line. Apart from the loan component, there is also a subsidy component of which 75 percent will be borne by the Centre and 25 percent by the state government. The scheme was launched in 1999, and the Union ministry of rural development and Panchayati Raj had released a sum of Rs 1.19 crores for Manipur state as the first installment of its share for provision of subsidies under the scheme. The amount is however still lying unused in the DRDA’s accounts. It may be mentioned that the scheme is supposed to be implemented at the block level. Every beneficiary is entitled to get Rs 7,500 each as subsidy from the Central and state government. Once the bank starts releasing the loan component to the beneficiaries, the subsidy component is supposed to be given at the end as grant to the beneficiaries. While a number of meetings have been conducted in this regard, the banks have been adamant in their refusal to provide the loans under the scheme. It is learnt that the Union government had some time back assigned a private agency, Ananda May, to find out the reasons for the failure of the scheme. The office of the accountant general, Manipur is now investigating the matter, sources added.