BackStand Up India is NDA’s outreach to socially disenfranchised
Under the scheme, 1.25 lakh bank branches will provide loans between Rs10 lakh and Rs1 crore to SC, ST and women entrepreneurs
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New Delhi: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Stand Up India scheme, in a bid to expand the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s outreach to the socially disenfranchised sections of the society, including Dalits, women and tribals, analysts welcomed the step, but added an enabling environment beyond financial assistance needs to be put in place to implement it.
Under the scheme, 1.25 lakh bank branches will provide loans between ₹ 10 lakh and ₹ 1 crore to scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST) and women entrepreneurs. The scheme is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship among 250,000 beneficiaries and is being seen as a push for financial inclusion.
“Our Adivasi and Dalit brothers and sisters are waiting for employment. How long will they keep waiting? We are those who got an opportunity, they haven’t. They deserve the same opportunity. If services are given then they can grow their lives as per their dreams," Modi said in an address at the launch of the Stand Up India scheme in Noida.
The choice of venue for the launch was interesting as Noida, Uttar Pradesh, has a sizeable Dalit population and the state is one of the most politically crucial states which goes to polls next year.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is aware of the growing aspirational quotient among the socially and economically marginalized communities. One of the key reasons of a strong mandate that the BJP got in the 2014 general elections was this aspiration factor.
“I welcome this step and would in fact thank the Prime Minister for taking such steps for empowerment of Dalits and other marginalized communities. The NDA government has walked past miles to help grow businesses among Dalit community. The intent of the government is very good," said Chandra Bhan Prasad, a Dalit thinker and author.
“However, any good entrepreneurship model needs to have access to markets. The government and public sector units (PSUs) should pledge that it will set up a target, without compromising on quality or price, to buy a certain amount of products from the SC or ST community," Prasad added.
The Union cabinet chaired by Modi in January also approved the enhancement of the authorized share capital of the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC) from ₹ 1,000 crore to ₹ 1,200 crore which aims to enable the NSFDC to increase disbursements of funds to more Dalit borrowers.
Even the Stand Up India scheme was cleared by the Union cabinet in the first week of January this year. The scheme, however, found one of its first mention in the Independence Day speech of the Prime Minister in which he said, “Each of the 125,000 bank branches should give loans to Dalits, women and tribals, so that the country could, in no time, have at least 125,000 start-ups by women and Dalits."
Analysts added that while the scheme is a "wonderful initiative", an enabling mechanism including a widespread awareness campaign to target the potential beneficiaries should be put in place.
“It is a wonderful effort, in fact a wonderful initiative that such kinds of loan are being given to Dalits, tribals and women. But the challenge would lie in materializing it. The government should make sure that the information about the scheme reaches those who can make use of the scheme and also to make them scheme-literate to gain its benefits," said Sanghamitra Sheel Acharya, director of the New Delhi-based Indian Institute of Dalit Studies.
“The government is targeting the aspirations of these sections but it is this very aspiration which may not be conducive to the schemes being offered. For instance, how do you decide a person’s credit-worthiness or how do you make sure that someone becomes market savvy. It is a wonderful step but requires an enabling environment to be generated around it," she added.
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