During the meeting with lead bank PNB and other banks, Cheema and Sahni took stock of the loans given by them to startups.
Punjab Newsline, Chandigarh, December 22
Instructing the banks to put full emphasis on distribution of loans under various schemes to generate employment and promote entrepreneurship in the state, Punjab Finance Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema directed the state's lead bank Punjab National Bank (P.N. B.) and other banks included in the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) were asked to meet their targets for disbursing money and other loans to startups in the state by March 2024. He said that while disbursing these loans, the bank should lay special emphasis on the empowerment of SC/ST communities and women in the state, startups started by youth, and focused schemes on strengthening micro, small and medium industries. .
Finance Minister of Punjab, who was presiding over the meeting of lead bank PNB and other banks along with Vikramjit Singh Sahni, member of Rajya Sabha and member of Parliamentary Advisory Committee on Finance, at Punjab Bhawan here today. This meeting was organized by these banks for self-employment and startups under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Program (PMEGP), and National Urban Livelihood Mission etc. It was called to find out the quantum of loans given. Under these schemes, loan facilities ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 crore are being provided to young entrepreneurs by nationalized banks.
Finance Minister Cheema said the Industries and Commerce Department has written a demi-official (DO) letter to banks to encourage distribution of loans to ITI pass students for small projects up to Rs 10 lakh. He further said that the ITIs sent to the banks. Only 52 cases have been approved against 623 cases of D.E. students. Harpal Singh Cheema said that he is hopeful that the banks will soon improve their performance as the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann is giving them full support. He said that he will soon hold another meeting with the banks to review their performance in this matter.
Meanwhile, Vikramjit Singh Sahni urged the banks to distribute loans under the three schemes of Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), Shishu, Kishore and Tarun, and said that they should not be limited to only small loans. He said that India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has assured that if there are any shortcomings in giving these loans to the youth, she will intervene if necessary. He said that the Punjab government under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann is making full efforts to create employment opportunities and many measures are being taken to skill the youth, strengthen the farmers and uplift the weaker sections of the society. He said that there are about 6300 branches of different banks in the state and if each branch passes at least 5 loan cases under different schemes, it will help in brightening the future of more than 30,000 youth of the state. .
Before this, PMMY, PMEGP, SC/ST. and/or Stand-up India Scheme for Financial Assistance to Women Entrepreneurs, Central Sector Scheme for Financial Assistance under Farming Infrastructure Fund, Micro Food Processing Enterprise Scheme, National Urban Livelihood Mission, and Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor Atma Nidhi Nidhi. A power point presentation was made to discuss the current status of loans given by banks under etc.
Senior officials of the departments of Finance, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Horticulture, Industries and Commerce, Animal Husbandry and Local Government and senior representatives of lead bank Punjab National Bank and other banks included in the State Level Bankers Committee were present in the meeting.
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