Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma launched the ceremonial distribution of relief under “Category – III” of the Assam Microfinance Incentive & Relief Scheme (AMFIRS) 2021 at an event held at the CM Conference Hall in Janata Bhawan recently to provide reliefs to the likes of Sikha Talukdar, Munmi Das and Binita Teron.
Borrowers whose accounts had turned non-performing asset (NPA) as on March 31, 2021 and having outstanding principal amount up to ₹25,000 are deemed to be eligible for benefits of Category – III of AMFIRS 2021. The State Government is expending ₹291 cr as compensation to the lenders (microfinance institutions). This step is expected to provide succour to 2,22,949 borrowers from across the State. In return, the microfinance institutions shall issue “no due certificate” to the borrowers, thus making the latter credit-worthy again under the formal financial system.
Speaking at the event, the Chief Minister expressed happiness at the prospect of lakhs of female microfinance and bank loan borrowers becoming credit-worthy again through the scheme.
Referring to AMFIRS 2021 as a first-of-its-kind in the country, Dr. Sarma said its main objective was to provide relief to eligible borrowers who had availed small loans from microfinance institutions and the formal banking system but owing to certain circumstances, they couldn’t repay the borrowed amount in full.
Take the case of Sikha Talukdar. This 42-year-old from Gosala in Maligaon was a relieved face in the meeting in Dispur.
“I took a loan of ₹30,000 in the first month of 2018 from Grameen Development and Finance Pvt. Ltd. to start vending vegetables. My business was doing well to begin with. I was repaying my EMIs on time. But it was derailed during Covid and I became a defaulter,” said Sikha, a mother of two teenagers.
“She said that to become a bank loan repayment defaulter is a burden for any poor family. But for the bold decision taken by the Assam Government, we are completely relieved from the bank loan burden today.”
Expressing his gratitude towards the microfinance institutions for agreeing to waive of around ₹300 cr in interest income for the sake of successful implementation of this relief measures, Dr. Sarma appealed to the beneficiaries of the scheme to show more responsibility in repaying their loans in future.
“This is a one-time arrangement from the Government to support poor microfinance borrowers and to bring back the credit and repayment culture in Assam. All the borrowers are encouraged to maintain credit discipline by repaying their loans on time to keep their accounts active,” he said.
