69% out of Total 44.46 Crore Loans sanctioned to Women under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana

Out of a total of 44.46 crore loans sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), 30.64 crore (69%) have been sanctioned to women as of November 24, 2023. Furthermore, as of 24.11.2023, 1.77 lakh (84%) of the 2.09 lakh loans sanctioned under Stand-up India (SUPI) had been sanctioned to women entrepreneurs.

Improved access to credit has an impact on the socioeconomic growth of many segments of society. On April 8, 2015, PMMY was launched to provide collateral-free institutional loans to Small/ Micro companies for income-generating operations. On April 5, 2016, the SUPI plan was introduced to stimulate entrepreneurship among women and SC/ST by providing loans for the establishment of green field firms. The empowerment of women has been a significant goal of these programs.

Microcredit through PMMY fostered female entrepreneurship, increased wages and employability, and financially, socially, and psychologically empowered them. SUPI encouraged lenders to finance green-field projects for women entrepreneurs by allocating a target of providing at least one loan to women and one loan to SC/ST entrepreneurs, which goes a long way in promoting entrepreneurship among women and women-led firms.

Apart from the aforementioned, the Ministry of Finance is also implementing the following significant Flagship schemes through banks and financial institutions around the country:

• PM SVANidhi was launched on June 1, 2020, to provide collateral-free loans to street vendors in three tranches: Rs.10,000 in the first tranche, up to Rs. 20,000 in the second tranche, and up to Rs. 50,000 in the third tranche.
• PM Vishwakarma was inaugurated on September 17, 2023. The Scheme intends to give comprehensive support to traditional artists and craftspeople working in 18 specified industries by providing access to skill training, collateral-free finance, modern tools, market linkage assistance, and incentives for digital transactions.
• The Self Help Group-Bank Linkage Programme (SHG-BLP) has helped women improve their lives by allowing them to save, borrow, and build social capital.

NABARD Micro Enterprise Development Programme (MEDPs): NABARD has been funding need-based skill development programmes (MEDPs) for matured SHGs that have already received bank financing.

LEDP (Livelihood and Enterprise Development Programme): Launched in 2015, LEDP aims to execute livelihood development programs in clusters. Over two loan cycles, it encourages livelihood creation in farm and off-farm enterprises and supports intense skill building, refresher training, backward-forward linkages, value chain management, end-to-end solutions, and handholding and escort services.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY): The PMJDY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana) scheme was launched in August, 2014 to provide universal banking services for every unbanked adult. The scheme facilitates the opening of bank accounts free of cost and without any requirement of keeping minimum balance.

The opening of Jan Dhan accounts has facilitated the coverage of various social security schemes among the unorganized sections of the society which, inter-alia includes the following schemes: –

• For a premium of Rs.436 per annum per subscriber, the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) provides a renewable one-year term life insurance of Rupees Two Lakh to all subscribing bank/post office account holders aged 18 to 50 years, covering death due to any cause.
• The Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) is available to persons between the ages of 18 and 70 who have a bank or post office account and agree to enroll or allow auto-debit. The scheme provides risk coverage of Rs. 2 lakhs in the event of accidental death or entire permanent disability and Rs. 1 lakh in the event of partial permanent disability due to an accident for a premium of Rs. 20 per annum.
• Atal Pension Yojana (APY) offers a guaranteed minimum monthly pension for subscribers ranging between Rs.1,000 and Rs.5,000 per month after attaining the age of 60 years.

The above information was provided by UNION MINISTER OF STATE FOR FINANCE, DR. BHAGWAT KARAD, while giving a written reply to an unstarred question in Lok Sabha.