From Our Special Corespondent

Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Feb 11: Chief minister B S Yediyurappa asked bankers to sanction loans under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojane (PMAY) and Pradhan Mantri Swaidhi Yojane without any delays.

He addressed a meeting with the bankers at the conference hall of Vidhana Soudha on the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojane (PMAY) and Pradhan Mantri Swaidhi Yojane schemes in the state on Thursday.

"Both the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojane (PMAY) and Pradhan Mantri Swaidhi Yojane were ambitious programmes of the Narendra Modi government at the centre to help the poor," Yediyurappa said asking the bankers to accord highest priority for their implementation.

The chief minister lamented that the performance in the disbursement of loans under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojane (PMAY) and Pradhan Mantri Swaidhi Yojane was tardy as compared to other states and wanted the bankers to resolve any bottlenecks in the implementation.

The state government will forward the applications for loans under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojane to the respective lead banks in the districts within 15 days of their submission and asked the managements of the lead banks to ensure that they were distributed to the banks so as to ensure that the implementation did not suffer and the approvals were expedited.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojane, approvals for loan sanctions was granted only in respect of 53,695 applications, which was lower than the performance of other states.

Construction of 19,658 houses had been completed in the state out of the 1,16,168 cases for which work orders have been issued.

The chief minister stressed the need for better coordination between the state government officials and the banks.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Swanidhi Yojane implemented since July 2020, Yediyurappa explained that the street vendors would be granted working capital assistance up to Rs 10,000 at a 7% rate of interest.

"Out of a total of 2,24,368 applications received for loan assistance under Pradhan Mantri Swanidhi Yojane in the state, Yediyurappa said barely 66,623 applications have been given approvals, which werre less than 30%," Yediyurappa said and wanted the bankers to expedite the loan sanctioning process.

Deputy chief minister and Higher Education minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, housing minister V Somanna, chief secretary P Ravi Kumar, additional chief secretary Vandita Sharma, Canara Bank chief executive director A Manimekhalai, Reserve Bank of India regional director Jose G Kattur and other senior officials as well as bank officers attended the meeting.