GS Paper 2
Syllabus: Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections
Source: PIB
Context: As Stand-Up India completes 7 years, the PM acknowledged the role that the initiative has played in empowering the SC/ST communities, women and job creation.
The Stand-up India scheme:
- It aims at promoting entrepreneurship among women and scheduled castes and tribes.
- It was launched in 2016 and is anchored by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
- It facilitates bank loans between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 Crore to at least one SC/ST borrower and at least one woman borrower per bank branch for setting up a greenfield enterprise (the first-time venture) only.
- This enterprise may be in manufacturing, services or the trading sector.
- In the case of non-individual enterprises, at least 51% of the shareholding and controlling stake should be held by either an SC/ST or a woman entrepreneur.
The scheme can be accessed in three potential ways:
- Directly at the branch or,
- Through Stand-Up India Portal or,
- Through the Lead District Manager (LDM).
Achievements (as of 2022):
- 30160 crores have been sanctioned to over 1.33 lakh (over 1 lakh women) new job-creators and entrepreneurs.
- To extend collateral-free coverage, the Government of India has set up the Credit Guarantee Fund for Stand Up India (CGFSI).
- Driving economic growth → making significant strides towards building an Atmanirbhar Bharat.
Best practices for implementation of the scheme:
- Awareness campaigns were organized including melas, financial literacy camps, etc.
- Hand-holding (pre and post-sanction of the loan): Hand-holding of borrowers from the targeted community, CM helpline for query resolution (Burhanpur, MP), etc.
- Effective coordination amongst implementing units: It is essential that all agencies and persons involved, i.e. SIDBI, LDMs, and bank officials are on the same page.
Way ahead:
- Banks should be incentivised to motivate and reward officials and banks with large numbers of disbursements while offering due diligence.
- All the stakeholders of the program should be educated through IEC activities, workshops and training.
- Build success stories in all geographical regions for motivating the masses.
- Efforts for convergence with other schemes like Startup India, MUDRA, etc.
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