All the overdue loans, including principal and interest, of the weavers of the state of Andhra Pradesh, till March 31, 2010, have been waived.
The Chief Minister of the state, Mr. K Rosaiah approved the proposal regarding loan waiver for weavers. A Government order pertaining to this would be issued soon. This government order will also cover waiver of loans obtained under Artisan Credit Cards Scheme, Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) and Rajiv Yuva Shakti Yojana (RYS).
The proposal to waive loans has been accepted after receiving the recommendations made by the Group of Ministers, constituted to examine waiver of loans for weavers. Moreover, the government is also thinking over the waiver of bank loans for all genuine working Primary Handloom Weavers Cooperative Societies.
A financial package to cut down the interest will also be issued after the discussions with banks. Besides, the Andhra Pradesh State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society Limited (APCO) is likely to receive the fund of Rs.500 million, since the Government is thinking over allocating funds to the cooperative as additional share capital.
The Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Bank Limited (APCOB) will act as the nodal agency to disburse the respective financial institutions, while the working capital requirements of Handloom Weavers Cooperative Societies will be fulfilled by the APCOB and District Cooperative Central Banks (DCCBs) by allocating fresh cash credit limits.
The loan waiver scheme is a remedial measure to clear all the undue loans of the state weavers, due to which they can now apply for fresh working capital from banks.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India