Page 25 - NIS English, 16-30 November,2022

Aajeevika Mission-Nation's Mission Cover Story

took office as Prime Minister of India in THE RATE OF NPA ON SELF-
2014, there were millions of women in
the country who did not even have a bank HELP GROUPS HAS COME
account. They were far from the banking DOWN TO 2.23 IN OCTOBER
system. That is why we initially launched
a massive campaign to open Jan Dhan 2022 FROM 2014.
accounts. The central government not
only opened bank accounts but also
made bank loans more accessible.
There were numerous reports of
entrepreneurs failing to repay bank
loans in the country. However, these
women not only took the loan but also
did a good job of repaying it. Whereas
bank loans were previously stuck at
9 percent, this rate has now dropped
to 2.5 percent. Through One District,
One Product, a campaign is underway
to bring local products from each
district to major markets, which is also
benefiting women's self-help groups.
Taking advantage of the increasing
trend of online shopping, a special
place has been kept for the products
of self-help groups through the Central
Government's GeM, i.e., the Government
E-Marketplace Portal, named 'Saras'.
Through this, they can sell their products
directly to government departments.

Life is getting easier
Since 2014, the country has been
working to improve women's dignity and
to address the issues that women face.
The problems that were encountered
due to the lack of toilets, the problems
caused by the smoke of wood in the
kitchen, and the fact that one had to
travel two-two, four-four kilometres
to get water has been addressed in
the country by constructing over 11
crore toilets, providing 9 crore gas
connections under Ujjwala scheme , and
providing water from a tap to crores of
families.The Matru Vandana Yojana was
launched to help women during their
pregnancies. More than 11 thousand

New India Samachar November 16-30, 2022 23