Kolkata: The number of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) has increased by more than one lakh during the last one year, as the state government has taken up a comprehensive scheme to increase job opportunities.
"As per the statistics, there were 7,29,533 SHGs in the year 2018-19 (February). This number has shot up to 8,39,686 in the year 2019-20 (February)," said Choten Lama, CEO of West Bengal National Rural Livelihood Mission (WBSRLM) and secretary of state Panchayats and Rural Development department, while giving a presentation during the annual rural conclave 'Rural Connect 2020', held at a city hotel on Thursday.
Pradip Majumdar, Agriculture advisor to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Malay Kumar Poddar, CMD, Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited, were also present on the occasion.
It might be mentioned that the state's performance of credit linkage of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in the Cooperative Sector is the highest in India.
The state government is committed to empower and make the poor womenfolk self-reliant both in the urban and rural areas. The loan amount that was Rs 553 crore in 2010-11, went up to Rs 7,000 crore in 2018-19. The state government is also providing a subsidy so that the SHGs have to pay only 2 percent of their bank loan.
The number of SHGs, which was 4.72 lakh in 2010-11, has gone up more than twofold with an emphasis from the Mamata Banerjee government.