On November 28, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma embarked on the microfinance loan waiver scheme in the district of Tezpur.
What fruit will the scheme bring?
Out of all the 24 lakh women beneficiaries including 59,468 women in Sonitpur district, each of them will receive some sort of Rs 16,000 – Rs 25,000.
The Assam Microfinance Incentive and Relief Scheme (AMFIRS), 2021, guarantees financial aid to borrowers who had to suffer hardships due to the prevailing pandemic and it was formally inaugurated by CM Sarma.
Statement by Assam CM Sarma:
The Minister said that the government has taken the particular initiative to provide one lakh employment by May 10, of the year 2020 and have also decided to extend the Orunodoi benefit to 5,000 additional needy families in each assembly constituency despite increasing the benefit amount with time.
Sarma said, “The first phase which will encompass those making regular payments will start from Sunday onwards. We will spend Rs 3500 crore in this phase.” “In the second phase around Rs 4000 crore will be spent whereby people seeking complete waiver will be given money. For this a portal will be opened and those willing to avail the benefit may apply,” he added.
The Assam Cabinet has eventually agreed to the process of cheque distribution to those who are regularly paying the debts.
The GoA has signed a MOU with 38 Microfinance banks and Institutions for the implementation of Assam Micro Finance Incentive and Relief Scheme (AMFIRS), 2021.
Even before this, during the month of August the Assam Government introduced the similar scheme which guaranteed Rs 25,000 to 11 lakh borrowers.
There Sarma said that in its first Cabinet meeting the Assam Government formed a committee under the chairmanship of Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Ashok Singhal to fulfill its election promise of waiving microfinance loans to provide aid to poor women who are not able to return the loan amount.
