Ongole Oct 7 (Agency) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday released the second tranche of YSR Aasara scheme by crediting nearly Rs 6440 crore into the accounts of 78.76 lakh women belonging to 7.97 lakh Self Help Groups (SHG) for the second consecutive year. Under the scheme, the outstanding loans of women SHGs which were Rs 25,517 crore (until April 2019) will be directly credited into their accounts in four phases. Addressing the public gathering here, the Chief Minister said that Aasara scheme would be implemented in Kadapa district from November 6 to 15 after the byelection for the Badvel Assembly constituency was concluded. He stated that the government had spent a total of Rs 12,759 crore towards YSR Aasara scheme alone in the last 28 months. As promised during the 2019 elections to pay back the amount in four phases, the present YSRCP government had already credited Rs 12759 crore in two phases and restarted zero-interest loan schemes benefiting nearly one crore women.
With the measures taken by the state government, only 0.73 percent SHGs were notified as NPA and those with C and D grades have also bounced back to A grade, registering a recovery rate of 99.5 percent. Mr Reddy said that with the government’s initiative, over 3 lakh women had started various businesses and were earning an additional income of Rs 7,000 to Rs 10,000 per month. He said that 50 percent of nominated posts and nominated works were reserved to women, whereas in reality, more than 60.47 percent of posts were given to women in various corporations. Out of the 13 Zilla Parishad Chairpersons posts seven and 15 out of 26 Vice-Chairman posts were given to women. Keeping women safety in view, Disha Act and Disha app were brought and was being implemented across the State. The Chief Minister said that around 1 crore women of 9.41 lakh SHGs were benefited through zero-interest loans, as the government credited Rs 2362 crore.
Through Amma Vodi, 44.50 lakh women and 85 lakh children were benefited by receiving Rs 13,023 crore. Like never before, almost 61 lakh people have been receiving pensions in the State while it was only 39 lakh during the TDP rule, he said. The government had spent Rs 8,944 crore benefiting 24.56 lakh women through YSR Cheyutha, Rs 5,573 crore for Vidya Deevena, Rs 2,270 crore for Vasati Deevena, Rs 881 crore for Sampoorna Poshana, Rs 982 crore for YSR Kapu Nestam, and distributed 31 lakh house sites, where each house is valued between Rs 5-10 lakh. Later the Chief Minister sanctioned Rs 400 crore for the drinking water project in Ongole and announced that water will be drawn from the first tunnel of Veligonda project by August 2022 and the second tunnel will be ready by February 2023.