Age limit raised to 50-55 yrs, existing entrepreneurs now eligible
PANAJI
In a move to make it more attractive, the government has modified the Chief Minister’s Rojgar Yojna (CMRY), a scheme meant to disburse loans to youth for self-employment projects, relaxing some of its conditions.
According to BS Pai Angle, Managing Director of Economic Development Corporation (EDC), the State-owned finance corporation which manages the scheme, earlier entrepreneurs with an annual income of more than Rs 10 lakh were ineligible for the loans.
“Now, entrepreneurs with an income of more than Rs 10 lakh will also be given benefits under CMRY,” Pai Angle said.
Angle was addressing a press conference on Friday and was flanked by EDC officials Ashwin Kamat and Ashok Parab.
Also, only first-time entrepreneurs were permitted to claim benefits of the scheme but now this condition has been dropped.
Those who are existing entrepreneurs will also be eligible to seek benefits under the scheme now, but once availed, the beneficiary will not be eligible to do so again.
Pai Angle said that when the scheme was launched the age limit was 42 and thereafter it had been raised to 45. Now those up to the age of 50 will be eligible,
he added.
“For some categories, the age limit has been increased to 55 years,” he added.
“However, although we have hiked the age limit to 50 and for some categories 55, the condition that the loan should be repaid before attaining the age of 60 has been retained,” Pai Angle said.
Meanwhile, the interest rate for the CMRY loans has been retained at 8 percent and entrepreneurs who pay instalments on time are given a 6 percent discount, effectively reducing the interest rate to just 2 percent.
“Last year, around 150 entrepreneurs were given loans under the CMRY. We are providing entrepreneurship education to new entrepreneurs to make their businesses profitable,” Pai Angle said, adding that in cases where eligibility is clear, loans are sanctioned within two to three weeks.
“In some cases, there is a provision to sanction loans in shorter time but the loan must be availed immediately after approval,” Pai Angle said while pointing out that in some instances the beneficiary entrepreneurs come for the loan more than two months after approval is granted.
