Maharashtra Nagari Sahakari Bank has so far disbursed loans worth Rs 6 crore to over 3500 women associated with Joint Liability Groups and planning to reach 10k women in the near future. This is an effort aimed to empower women in society.
“Our bank is providing loans to the women by forming their small groups, through which they can start their own business. Since 2016, we have been helping women and encouraging them in all possible way”, claimed an Ex-MLA and bank Chairman Shivajirao Patil Kavekar to this correspondent on the phone.
“This is a small contribution to fulfilling our Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to make India a self-reliant country. We are giving loans without collateral”, he added.
He further claimed that there is no issue of recovery. Women are paying their instalments on time. There was a little bit of a problem due to Covid-19 but now things are normal. Our employees are also giving training to them.
Talking in detail Kavekar said, “In a bid to give employment opportunities, we have made many young people as assistants to Business Correspondents, who are involved in different types of field works. Besides, we have also given a lot of financial assistance to the families of farmers who had committed suicide due to personal reasons or government apathy”, he added.
In a telephonic interview, the bank Chairman expressed his disappointment because of the restrictions imposed by the Reserve Bank of India on Urban Cooperative Banks of the country. “The RBI’s attitude towards the cooperative sector is not so helpful and the apex bank had not given any relief to this sector during the time of Covid-19. We need the freedom to work as we are working for the downtrodden sections of society”, he asserted.
“Several days back we had asked the RBI to expand our area of jurisdiction to other parts of Maharashtra and had applied for five new branches but are still awaiting the response”, Kavekar informed.
Besides, the bank is also actively participating in making contributions in whatever way possible to society, claimed the Chairman. “Recently, the bank had given a contribution of Rs 11 lakh to the Latur-based Vivekanand Cancer Hospital in a function in which Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was also present”, he added.
The bank has a total business mix of 350 crores and earned a net profit of more than Rs 2 crore in the last financial year. The bank has a network of 4 branches across the Latur district.
