On September 28, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will undertake a comprehensive review of the flow of credit to the Scheduled Castes community besides looking into the progress made on the implementation of other government welfare schemes by banks and financial institutions (FIs).

The review meeting is proposed with the SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara, NABARD Chairman, SIDBI CMD S Ramann, IFCI Managing Director & CEO, and chief executives of all public sector banks (PSBs), sources said. 

Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), Vijay Sampla, will also be present at the meeting, they added.

The meeting is expected to look among other schemes into the performance of Stand-Up India scheme, which was launched in 2016 to promote entrepreneurship among the scheduled caste/ scheduled tribe and women by facilitating bank loans of ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore to at least one SC/ST borrower and one woman borrower per bank branch for setting up new enterprises in trading, manufacturing and services sector.

Schemes and progress

The Stand-Up India scheme was extended in 2019-20 for the entire period coinciding with the 15th Finance Commission period of 2020-25.

The scheme, being implemented through all scheduled commercial banks, is expected to benefit at least 2.5 lakh borrowers. As many as 1.44 lakh loans have been sanctioned to women and SC/ST entrepreneurs across the country as on July 22, 2022, government data showed.

The review meeting will discuss Stand-Up India, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), and Credit Enhancement Guarantee Scheme for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and their progress.

Under PMMY, collateral-free institutional credit of up to ₹10 lakh is provided by Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) to micro/small business units, for income-generating activities in sectors such as manufacturing, trading, services and activities allied to agriculture.

Since the inception of PMMY, more than 35.88 crore loans amounting to ₹19.61 lakh crore have been extended as on July 1, 2022.

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