Rural women-led SHGs driving Tripura’s growth story: CM Saha

AGARTALA, MAY 18 (PTI): Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Monday said women-led Self Help Groups (SHGs) were significantly contributing to the state’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), with the northeastern state producing more than one lakh ‘lakhpati didis’.
As many as 4.95 lakh rural women are associated with 55,569 SHGs and are striving for economic independence, he said.
Addressing a programme organised by the Tripura Rural Livelihood Mission (TRLM) at Rabindra Bhavan here, the chief minister said that Samriddhi 1.0 and 2.0 had been successfully implemented to empower rural women.
Saha said the government had set a target of disbursing Rs 100 crore in loans under Samriddhi 1.0, but the amount eventually rose to Rs 188 crore.
Similarly, a target of Rs 150 crore was fixed for loan disbursal to SHGs under Samriddhi 2.0, which later increased to Rs 260 crore, he said. Asserting that SHGs were playing an important role in boosting sustainable income generation in rural areas, Saha said the government had so far disbursed loans worth Rs 2,398 crore to such groups.
“Initially, bankers were sceptical about clearing loan proposals, but now the doubt has been cleared with the overall NPA standing at 1.84 per cent, which is quite low in the corporate sector. Our didis have gained the faith of banks,” he said.
Saha also appreciated the TRLM for bringing diversity to the activities of the SHGs from the farm to the non-farm sector to sustain the movement for empowering rural women.
“The TRLM is not only helping the SHGs in the farm sector but also extends support to non-farm sector livelihood avenues. The state has already produced 1,08,281 ‘lakhpati didis’, which is significantly contributing to the state’s overall GSDP,” he said. Laying emphasis on skill development, the CM said the TRLM has already signed a pact with IIM Kolkata Incubation Park for the business development of the SHGs.
Rural Development department secretary Abhishek Singh and chief executive officer of TRLM, TK Chakma, also highlighted the steps taken for the empowerment of rural women.