Kolkata: The state Panchayats and Rural Development (P & RD) department has constituted a record 1.3 lakh Self Help Group (SHGs) and is presently leading among all states in SHG formation with the total number being 10.79 lakh. The department has also created a new record when it comes to credit linkage with more than Rs 20,000 crore being provided to the SHGs in the state in the 2022-23 fiscal as assistance.
The department on Thursday held a felicitation programme for recognising the performance of the SHG members, the SHG federation for different activities under West Bengal State Rural Livelihood Mission (WBSRLM), is popularly known as Anandadhara. A total of 42 awards were given at the programme in the presence of Minister in Charge of the department Pradip Mazumdar and two Ministers of state of the department Becharam Manna and Seuli Saha along with senior department officials.
Mazumdar highlighted the achievement of the SHG women in paddy procurement with 5 lakh metric tonnes being procured by them which accounts for 10 per cent of the total paddy procurement. He asked Vibhu Goel, the CEO of WBSRLM for more specialised training of the SHGs involved in paddy procurement so that it can further be augmented in the days to come.
WBSRLM has set a target of forming 1.5 lakh SHGs and credit linkage of Rs 22,000 crore in the 2023-24 financial year.
Referring to the recent incident of fake loans to the tune of a few crores being taken in the name of SHG group under Manik Bazar Panchayat of Sonamukhi block in Bankura, Mazumdar said that the members should not bestow trust on one or two individuals in the group blindly and sign documents only after they have a fair understanding of its content. He maintained that special emphasis on awareness about the working pattern of the groups should be included in the training programme of the groups.
Minister of State Seuli Saha called for the election of the co-operatives and audit for bringing more transparency in the functioning of the SHG. “Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has expressed her concern over the incident at Bankura. We have to be more careful and I will personally visit districts for closer monitoring of Anandadhara,” she added.
The administration has already taken action and the offenders have been booked.