Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday urged the Tamil Nadu government to promote the schemes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, such as the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, which provide loans to small entrepreneurs, and the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, which provides accidental death insurance.
“In Delhi, we sit and frame the schemes. It is the role of the State governments to promote these schemes and ensure that they reach the target beneficiaries,” she said at the Mudra promotion campaign, organised by the Tamil Nadu government and the State Level Bankers Committee.
Ms. Sitharaman said that the Mudra scheme was designed to provide assistance to people from poor and lower-middle class backgrounds, who had difficulty accessing banks and other financial sources to develop and expand their business, adding that the collateral-free loan was one of the key benefits of the scheme.
“The onus would be on the State [government officials] to go to the people [rather] than waiting for the people to come to them to avail of such schemes. There are a lot of businesses [that are] unique to Tamil Nadu, like fireworks and fishing, among others. The scheme should reach coastal areas and drought-hit areas,” she said.
Cites Andhra as example
Ms. Sitharaman urged the State government to draw up the list of beneficiaries who have availed of loans under the Mudra scheme and ensure that none of them have been left out.
She also sought the State’s help to promote the Prime Minister’s insurance schemes, citing neighbouring Andhra Pradesh as an example. “The Centre and the State (Andhra Pradesh) share the premium of ₹342 per annum per person for the Prime Minister’s accidental and life insurance scheme, and the insurance is given free of cost to people. I urge Tamil Nadu also to follow this example,” Ms. Sitharaman said.
Assuring that the Tamil Nadu government would extend its support to the Centre’s schemes, S.P. Velumani, Minister for Municipal Administration, Rural Development and Implementation of Special Programme, noted that the State was already leading in the implementation of schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana — Housing for All and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.