the goan I network
PANAJI
Tribal Welfare Minister Govind Gaude on Wednesday announced that those availing of the Ashraya Aadhar Scheme would now be given upto Rs 5 lakh, a Rs 3 lakh increase from the current financial aid under the scheme.
Those from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community interested in applying for the scheme to help them reconstruct, repair, or renovate a house, could avail of the scheme, at an interest rate of just 2 per cent.
Further, he said that under the short term loan scheme for immediate expenses towards education, medical expenditure and business needs, applicants from the ST community would be given Rs 1,00,000 within 24 hours of applying. Details of these schemes, and other schemes that the ST community can avail of will be uploaded to the ST community website.
Meanwhile, Gaude announced that the ST Corporation was in the process of taking over the loan scheme for industry and trade mines, currently with the Economic Development Corporation (EDC).
Statistics available with the ST Corporation show that between April 2005 and December 2018, a total of 3,341 people benefited from the Ashraya Aadhar Scheme, 317 people benefited from the self-employment loan scheme, and 44 people had benefited from the short term loan scheme.
Gaude announced that in the last year, 91 per cent of funds allotted for tribal welfare had been utilised. The ST Corporation has also come up with a new logo, that was launched by Gaude
on Wednesday.
