Private sector banks and financial institutions should support the government in promoting entrepreneurship by lending a hand to small-scale units of self-help groups (SHGs) and street vendors. This could be done by providing credit on easy terms breaking the stranglehold of moneylenders and hand-holding them to reach a stage where they can become job-givers, said Mission for Elimination of Urban Poor in Municipal Areas (MEPMA) director T.K. Sreedevi here on Wednesday.
Addressing a gathering after launching the MEPMA Bazaar on HDFC bank premises at Banjara Hills, she said there were about 26,000 women self-help groups across the municipalities in the State and giving financial or managerial aid for even 1,000 of them would go a long way in ameliorating poverty, besides giving a fillip to the entrepreneurship spirit.
Similarly, the MEPMA has listed about 65,000 street vendors in 73 urban local bodies across Telangana and most of them take small loans with a high rate of interest of 10% or more, which keeps them away from getting out of the poverty cycle as most part of their earning has to be paid as interest for the loan.
Ms. Sreedevi, also the Director of Municipal Administration, urged the bank employees to volunteer their services to assist small-scale businesses of SHGs and street vendors. In this context, she mentioned the Tata Projects Community Development Trust taking up such an activity.
The MEPMA has also been helping these groups to set up kiosks made of recycled plastic, and the process has already started in Sircilla and few other places. This would effectively deal with solid waste management and livelihood issues, she added.
Stalls set up
At MEPMA Bazaar, SHG groups had set up stalls selling home-made snacks, handloom products, jute bags, pottery items and others. A cheque for ₹2 lakh was also presented to a SHG group on the occasion.
HDFC’s chief risk officer Jimmy Tata and senior vice-president, sustainability livelihood initiative, Venkatesh Ch., participated in the event.