10,000 loan cases approved for budding entrepreneurs of J&K

Srinagar, October 27

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday announced sanction of over 10,000 loan cases for the union territory’s budding entrepreneurs under various programmes.

Sinha said his mantra for Jammu and Kashmir revolved around ‘four Ps’ — peace, progress, prosperity and people.

“The sanctioning of over 10,000 cases under the B2V3 (back to village-3) self-employment programme, economic package and ‘My Town My Pride’ highlights the UT government’s commitment to empower the youth which is one of the foremost priorities of J&K government,” he said.

Sinha said 15,309 applications had been received, out of which 10,828 were sanctioned and an amount of Rs 100 crore was disbursed to 6,734 applicants, identified under the B2V3.

“We had taken up a target of covering at least two persons in each panchayat who were in need of financial assistance for self-employment,” he added.

He said the administration was committed to cover every single aspirant within the UT, who wished to set up his/her own business.

“What distinguishes the effort this time is the fact that unlike in the past, where borrowers had to make several rounds of the bank to get a simple loan, the banks have been more than forthcoming towards helping the people,” he said.

The officers went to the villages under the B2V3 and ‘My Town My Pride’, and identified the aspirants, the L-G said.

Sinha called upon J&K Bank to not only extend financial assistance to these entrepreneurs but also provide hand-holding to them so that the youth who opted for self-employment could set up sustainable businesses and flourish in their lives.

The Lt Governor also handed over a cheque for Rs 250 crore to J&K Bank as commencement of disbursement of 5 per cent interest subvention and coverage of restructured accounts following 2014 floods and 2016 agitation.

“This is only the beginning and as and when requests are received for further disbursement, we will continue to meet these requests in a timely manner,” he added. Providing much-needed relief to the business community, the Lt Governor also announced that from January 1 next year, the GST would be reimbursed timely and automatically without delays.

He said the government was strengthening the grass-roots democratic setup as a three-tier Panchayati Raj system was being implemented for the first time in J&K. — PTI