Loan of Rs 2.25 crore extended to farmers : Biren advocates exploitation of natural gas
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, September 28 2017: Noting that abundant quantity of natural gas has been discovered within the territory of Manipur, Chief Minister N Biren has asked all the people if there is any harm in exploiting this resource for the State's use while balance gas would be exported to earn revenue.

The Chief Minister was speaking at a Credit Linkage Programme held at the Old Assembly Road premises of Manipur State Cooperative Bank Limited where a total loan amount of Rs 2.25 crore was distributed to farmers .

A total of Rs 2,25,08,500 was distributed to 642 loanees under Kishan Credit Card and Ima Credit Card and as piggery and dairy loans .

Speaking at the gathering, Chief Minister N Biren noted that there are thousands of poverty-stricken families in Manipur and one cannot assume Manipur to be prosperous just be seeing magnificent houses of some rich and wealthy people .

Poverty alleviation is one primary duty of the Government.

There are many people in rural areas who cannot start any trade due to want of capital.

It is crucial for banks to provide loans to these people .

Loan of Rs 2.25 crore extended to farmers : Biren advocates exploitation of natural gas

At the same time there is a need to ensure growth of banks.

With this mind, the Government has instructed all concerned to deposit funds of different departments in banks which would always keep in touch with the people, Biren stated .

The Government has been working to streamline all public welfare schemes .

Biren went on to claim that he and Prime Minister Narendra share the same vision of empowering the most backward and underprivileged sections .

This year's edition of Manipur Sangai Festival would be opened by the President of India and the festival would feature a business summit where Ambassadors of different countries, industrialists and investors would take part .

For speedy development of Manipur, investors must be invited and they should be allowed to invest in the State .

The State can earn substantial volume of revenue if pineapple, ginger, turmeric etc which are produced abundantly in the State are processed and exported to international markets.

Some companies have already offered to purchase the State's bamboo products, Biren said .

In connection with the Prime Minister's vision to ensure accessibility of piped water to all the citizens by 2022, a joint meeting was held with all relevant departments .

Biren said that he was first elated on hearing that 40 per cent have been given access to piped water.

But it (40 per cent) later turned out to be number of villages, not households.

It was rather disheartening to learn that the actual number of households which have access to piped water is just 4 per cent, Biren lamented .

Underscoring the need to nurture positive attitude, Biren conveyed that he called on the Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister and urged him to take up a project of supplying LPG from Tripura to Manipur through pipeline .

He then asked if there is any harm in exploiting the natural resources available in the State to cater to the needs of the people while the balanced resources would be exported to earn revenue .

Informing that there are around 20,000 to 25,000 disabled persons in the State, the Chief Minister stated that the Government has been planning to launch a scheme by the first week of October under which all those disabled persons who are capable of working would be given loans while those incapable of physical works would be given monthly pension of not less than Rs 2000 .

Stating that the State Government would open a corpus fund for the proposed scheme, he appealed to all the banks to cooperate with the State Government in implementing the scheme successfully .

He went on to assure that all the dilapidated roads would be repaired once the rainy season is over .

MAHUD Minister Th Shyamkumar underscored the importance of processing loan applications speedily .

At the same time, loanees should cultivate a habit of repaying loans in time .

Social Welfare and Cooperation Minister Nemcha Kipgen while noting that Manipur State Cooperative Bank is not very healthy at the moment, urged the bank officials to focus on recovery of loans .

While rejoicing that Sericulture Department recently deposited Rs 22.26 crore at the Manipur State Cooperative Bank Limited at the initiative of the Chief Minister, the bank's Managing Director A Subash said that loans of Rs 15,000 to 30,000 were given today to 420 farmers under Kishan Credit Card scheme .

Under Ima Credit Card scheme, loans of Rs 50,000 to one lakh have been given to 20 women vendors of Khwairamband Keithel .

Piggery loan of Rs 1.02 lakh each was given to 167 farmers under NABARD Area Development Scheme .

Under Dairy Farming Scheme, loans of Rs 1.60 lakh each have been given to 35 other farmers, Subash said.