Lok Sabha Question No. 534 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-04
Subject: Rashtriya Mahila Kosh
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Sukanta Majumdar, Jayant Sinha

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK  SABHA

## UN- STARRED QUESTION NO. 534

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.02.2022

## RASHTRIYA MAHILA KOSH

## 534.  DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR: SHRI JAYANT SINHA:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the work envisaged to be carried out under Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) along with the fund allocated, sanctioned, released and utilised during the last three years, district-wise and State-wise including Jharkhand and West Bengal;
- (b) whether  large  amount  of  funds  have  remained  unutilised  under  the  RMK  in West Bengal and if so, the details thereof along with the action taken thereon;
- (c) the role played by the RMK in facilitating the socio-economic empowerment of women along with the other steps being taken  by the Government for effective implementation of the scheme; and
- (d) whether the Government has proposed to increase the credit limit of the loan provided under RMK and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a): Rastriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) was established by the government of India in 1993 as a national-level organisation under the Ministry of Women and Child Development as  a  society  under  the  Society  Registration  Act,  1860,  to  bring  about  the  socioeconomic  upliftment  of  poor  women.  RMK  provides  micro-finance  services  to  the needy  and  poor  women  in  the  informal  sector  through  a  client  friendly,  without collateral  security  and  third  party  guarantee.  The  loans  are  granted  for  Income Generating  Activities  (IGA),  housing,  micro-enterprises,  family  needs,  etc.   Funds were  disbursed  by  RMK  till  31.03.2020.  Details  of  funds  allocated,  sanctioned/ utilised  during  the  year  2018-19  and  2019-20,  State  /  UT-wise  are  at Annexure-I. District-wise data is not maintained by RMK.

(b):   As on 31 st March, 2020, amount allocated to the State of West Bengal was Rs 2,746.29 lakh.  Out  of  this,  Rs  2,292.79  lakh  was  disbursed  to  Intermediary  Microfinancing  Organisations  (IMOs)  of  which  Rs  453.50  lakh  remained  unutilized/ undisbursed.

(c):  For effective implementation, credit is provided to the poor women beneficiaries through  Intermediary  Micro-financing  Organisations  (IMOs)  working  at  grass-root level  such  as  NGOs, Women Federations, Co-operatives, not for profit companies registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act and other Voluntary/ Civil society organisations,  etc.  by  following  a  client  friendly,  simple,  without  collateral loan required for livelihood and income generation activities, housing, micro-enterprises, etc.  RMK  has  also  taken  a  number  of  promotional  measures  to  popularise  the concept  of  women  empowerment  by  way  of  micro-financing,  thrift  and  credit, capacity building and marketing linkages through Self Help Groups (SHGs) format and also enterprise development for poor women. Since inception, Rs 31,513 lakh has been disbursed by RMK to 1728 IMOs which has benefited 7,41,163 women. (d):   In  the  present  scenario,  when  there  are  substantial  alternative  credit  facilities available to women through various initiatives of the government, RMK  has lost its relevance and utility. Hence, in order to avoid duplication of efforts and wastage of financial resources, it has been decided to be closed down RMK.

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Annexure I

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  534  FOR  ANSWER  ON  04.02.2022  REGARDING 'RASHTRIYA MAHILA KOSH' ASKED BY DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR AND SHRI JAYANT SINHA, HON'BLE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT

Statement showing Fund allocated, sanctioned and disbursed  from 01/04/2018 to 31/03/2019

(Rs in Lakh)

| S. No.   | State Name     |   Fund allocated |   Sanctioned/ disbursed |
|----------|----------------|------------------|-------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh |             30   |                      30 |
| 2        | Assam          |             25   |                       0 |
| 3        | Bihar          |             40   |                       0 |
| 4        | Haryana        |             40   |                       0 |
| 5        | Karnataka      |             65   |                     105 |
| 6        | Madhya Pradesh |             55   |                     110 |
| 7        | Maharashtra    |             47.5 |                      35 |
| 8        | Odisha         |             17.5 |                      35 |
| 9        | Rajasthan      |             34   |                       0 |
| 10       | Tamil Nadu     |            172.5 |                     110 |
| 11       | Uttar Pradesh  |             27.5 |                       0 |
| 12       | Uttarakhand    |             58   |                       0 |
| 13       | West Bengal    |            154.5 |                      50 |
|          | Total          |            766.5 |                     475 |

Statement showing Fund allocated, sanctioned and disbursed  from 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2020

( Rs in Lakh)

| S.No.           | State Name   | Fund allocated   |   Sanctioned / disbursed |
|-----------------|--------------|------------------|--------------------------|
| 1Haryana        | 1Haryana     | 5.00             |                        5 |
| 2Karnataka      | 2Karnataka   | 40.00            |                        0 |
| 3Madhya Pradesh | 95.00        |                  |                       40 |
| 4Maharashtra    | 17.50        |                  |                        0 |
|                 | 5Odisha      | 47.50            |                       30 |
|                 | 6Tamil Nadu  | 52.50            |                       20 |
|                 | 7West Bengal | 78.50            |                       65 |
|                 | Total        | 336.00           |                      160 |