New Delhi: As we celebrate the 7th anniversary of providing financial inclusion through the pillars of Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY), let us glance through some of the major aspects of this Scheme and its achievements. PMMY was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8th April, 2015, for providing loans up to Rs 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small or micro enterprises.
While celebrating the 7th anniversary of the scheme, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman said: “It is noteworthy that more than 34.42 crore loan accounts amounting to Rs 18.60 lakh crore have been opened under the Scheme for the creation of income generating activities.”
On the theme of business environment and large-scale employment opportunities through PMMY, the Finance Minister said, “The scheme has helped in creating an enabling environment particularly for small businesses and has helped generate large-scale employment opportunities at the grass roots level. More than 68 per cent of the loan accounts have been sanctioned to women and 22 per cent of the loans have been given to new entrepreneurs who had not availed any loan since the inception of the scheme.”
While greeting and congratulating all the Mudra beneficiaries and urging other prospective borrowers to come forward and take part in the nation-building process, Sitharaman said, “With 51 per cent of total loans sanctioned so far going to the SC/ST/OBC category, the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana stands for social justice in action and embodies the true spirit of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ as envisioned by the Hon’ble Prime Minister.”
On the occasion, Union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad said, “The driving force behind launching Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) has been to provide institutional credit to micro, small and medium enterprises in a hassle free/seamless manner.” “By providing assistance to 34.42 crore account holders, the scheme has been successfully reaching out to aspiring entrepreneurs, over the last seven years, since inception,” the MoS added.
On the issue of credit flow, the MoS said, “The other noteworthy focus of PMMY has been to extend credit to growing numbers of beneficiaries from the ‘aspirational districts’ identified by Niti Aayog, thus enabling flow of credit to these credit-starved districts.” Implementation of the Financial Inclusion (FI) programme in the country is based on three pillars, namely, banking the Unbanked, Securing the Unsecured and Funding the Unfunded. Under this ongoing programme, these three objectives are being achieved through leveraging technology and adopting multi-stakeholders’ collaborative approach, while serving the unserved and underserved as well.
One of the three pillars of FI - Funding the Unfunded, is reflected in the FI ecosystem through PMMY, which is being implemented with the objective to provide access to credit for small entrepreneurs. PMMY focuses on the financial needs of all stakeholders, ranging from budding entrepreneurs to the hard-working farmers, through various initiatives of the scheme. It is a key initiative towards providing financial support to the marginalized and hitherto socio-economically neglected classes, Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) has given wings to the dreams and aspirations of millions, along with a feeling of self-worth and independence. /BI/
