Andhra Pradesh

‘Pavala Vaddi’ more attractive

TIRUPATI: For the first time, the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Chittoor, has made a novel attempt to disburse the ‘Pavala Vaddi’ interest relief in the form of cash to the Self Help Groups (SHGs), with the twin objectives of ensuring transparency and also motivating more women to take to SHGs.

The groups are initially charged Re.1 interest per month, while the relief of 75 paise (after deducting 25 paise interest) is reimbursed by the DRDA to the bank, which in turn deposits the same into their respective accounts.

Prompt repayment holds the key here as it is the yardstick for identification of groups for the scheme.

The rationale behind the novel idea is to let the members know how much they are paying and the amount being reimbursed to them.

“The members cannot be expected to keep track of all the entries in bank passbooks, when even the educated elite tend to ignore their account statements.

Also, they have a right to know if they have received the interest relief, however small it may be, and hence we have decided to pay the same by cash,” a senior official told The Hindu.

The Village Organisations have been authorised to distribute the interest relief by cash at the monthly general body meetings, while the municipal commissioners will disburse the cash to the urban groups.

The amount will, in turn, be apportioned among the members by the leaders. Groups hitherto irregular in repayment have also reportedly volunteered to pay it at the earliest to get back three-fourths of a rupee paid as interest.

The move is expected to help the women meet their immediate domestic needs, besides infusing a sense of enthusiasm in non-members to form themselves into groups.

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