Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) has launched a new loan scheme called ‘Vikas Spoorty’ to strengthen the rural credit delivery system and also to motivate the common man to take up income-generating activities on a smaller scale.
Launching this scheme in Dharwad, Shreekanth M Bhandiwad, Chairman of KVGB, said this scheme is a hassle-free loan without collateral security and surety aimed at meeting the genuine credit needs of small entrepreneurs. It links repayment of the loan to the small amounts contributed by them on a daily basis to their ‘Daily Deposit’ scheme of the bank (pigmy account) at their doorsteps.
The loan accounts of such customers often become overdue not because of any intentional wilful default on their part, but because of the difficulty faced by them in visiting branches frequently to make repayment of small amounts. At the same time, on account of the subsistence level of income from their enterprises, they are not in a position to accumulate adequate savings to pay the monthly installment in one lump sum, he said.
Customers who intend to take up income-generating activities such as manufacturing, retail trade, small business, artisan activity, handicrafts, and farm activities such as small dairy, poultry, sheep and goat units will be considered for extending need-based credit, he said.
Under this scheme, people may avail a minimum loan of ₹50,000 and a maximum of ₹2,00,000. But the customer shall open a ‘Daily Deposit’ (pigmy) account and contribute regularly to it to service the repayment of instalment and interest for the loan, he added.