Reflections

Milind Kamble

India is celebrating the 126th birth anniversary of Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar on a grand scale and magnitude.

Dr. Ambedkar’s emphasis on modernization as a weapon to deal with social injustice was visionary. He had a vision for society where urbanization and industrialization would coexist with an equitable social order.

An industrial civilization is inherently built on the cornerstone of efficiency and equal opportunity. With available space in government sector evaporating, Dalits have started to look for opportunities in the commercial sphere including in the sector of entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem. To this day, he is considered as one of the tallest leaders of the independence movement not only in terms of his contributions as a revolutionary political activist but also in terms of an intellectual academic. Babasaheb was a man of many dimensions. His profoundly diverse scholarship in economics, sociology, anthropology and politics created a body of work and that was second to none.

MUDRA- Transforming the Financial Inclusion Paradigm

MUDRA Yojana helped Nano, Micro and tiny entrepreneurs by giving multiple options to the formal collateral based money lending system. MUDRA Yojana was announced by the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley while presenting the Union Budget for the Financial Year 2015−16. Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency Limited (MUDRA) and Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) has been set up as a refinancing agency for last-mile financial institutions to extend the credit to micro enterprises engaged in manufacturing, trading or services whose credit requirements do not exceed Rs 10 lakh.

It is envisioned to create the sustainable platform for SC/ST youth to start business and is hugely benefitting the SC/ST community to taste the fruits of national growth and development.

After implementation of this scheme, families across the country have seen improved lifestyles as they are now able to deliver quality education to their children and are creating large number of employment opportunities for others as well. SC/ST youth across the country are interested in starting their own business and becoming entrepreneurs as they are hugely inspired by the philosophy of DICCI - ‘Be Job givers, not Job seekers’.

Addressing the Aspirations of SC/ST Youth

MUDRA was envisioned and institutionalized to bridge the gap and facilitate ‘funding the unfunded’. MUDRA Yojana is aptly addressing the aspirations of the SC/ST youth.

The guidelines of PMMY issued by Department of Financial Services (DFS), GOI indicated that all the banks, NBFC’s and MFI’s are required to lend to micro enterprises engaged in manufacturing, processing, trading and service sector activities for a financial assistance from 50,000 INR up to 10 lakh INR.

Mudra loan for Financial Year: 2015-2016

No. of Mudra Loans Sanctioned to Micro Units – Rs 3,48, 80,924 (3.48 Cr)

Amount Sanctioned: Rs 1, 37,449.27 Crore

Amount Disbursed: Rs 1, 32,954.73 Crore

Social Category Mudra Loan Beneficiary: Fact Sheet 2

Source - mudra.org.in Complied by DICCI Secretariat

Mudra is the biggest ever financial inclusion for the socially disadvantaged section of the society.

As per the available data, SC beneficiaries are 61.14 lakh and ST beneficiaries are 16.78 lakh; total accounts of SC & ST are 77.92 lakh. The percentage to the total is 22.34 % and the total disbursement amount is Rs 19,433 crore by Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana. This will create a positive impact on livelihood of SC/ST/OBC and Minorities.

We in DICCI are eternally thankful to the Honourable P.M of India Shri Narendra Modi, PMO and all the officials for the prompt actions and implementation of the scheme.

(Milind Kamble is a successful entrepreneur. He is the Founder and Chairman of Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI), an organization that encourages entrepreneurship among Dalit communities and aims at developing business leadership among Dalits for socio-economic empowerment.)

The views expressed above belong to the author(s) and the Narendra Modi website and Narendra Modi App does not necessarily endorse the views expressed.