Minorities Finance Corporation extends age limit by another 15 years

A good number of petty traders can now escape the stranglehold of moneylenders. The government’s decision to relax the age limit for availing the bank-linked subsidy-cum-loan scheme of the Telangana State Minorities Finance Corporation has brought cheers to thousands.

Last date

Recently the government raised the age limit from the existing 21-40 years to 21-55 years paving way for a large number of minority candidates to avail the scheme. The revised age eligibility is on a par with the backward class and tribal candidates. The last date for online registration for the self-employment scheme for the year 2014-15 is also extended up to April 15.

The age relaxation has led to a spurt in online registration for the economic support scheme. Since March 13 when the GO 15 was issued, a total of 10,816 persons have applied and the number keeps increasing. The maximum of 4,008 applications have come from Mahabubnagar followed by 1,421 (Hyderabad) and 1,387 (Medak). Officials expect a flood of applications in the coming days.

In the current budget the Telangana government has allocated Rs. 82.40 crore for the bank-linked self-employment scheme. But going by the response, officials feel, this amount will prove to be quite insufficient. The increase in age eligibility by 15 years will enable more number of people to apply. This time instead of ration card, the applicants should submit the Aadhar card, income certificate and business quotation. Maximum subsidy of Rs. 1 lakh or 50 per cent of the unit cost will be sanctioned. The maximum loan will be of Rs. 2.50 lakh and Rs. 3 lakh for transport scheme.

Plan shelved

The Minorities Finance Corporation also toyed with the idea of providing microfinance so that petty traders who borrow money on a daily basis can come out of the clutches of moneylenders. But considering the difficulty in recovering the loan the plan is shelved. “We don’t have sufficient staff to recover petty loans”, says Prof. S.A. Shukoor, managing director, Telangana State Minorities Finance Corporation.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by J S Ifthekhar / Hyderabad – March 31st, 2015