Government's intent not to give 'buksheesh' to people: FM Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Confident about MUDRA loan scheme benefitting the weakest section of the society, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said the government's intent is not to give any "buksheesh" (tip) but to make people economically self-sufficient. In a Facebook post, Jaitley said, "The model of the present government is not to give ‘Buksheesh’ but to enable people to make them economically selfsufficient and live a life of dignity. MUDRA scheme will be a game changer over the next few years." Jaitley, last week, launched a mega credit drive under the MUDRA scheme, under which banks, NBFCs and MFIs will provide loans betweenRs 50,000 to 10 lakh to the unfunded sections of the society.

"India may not be able to provide employment to all but our economy will strong enough to provide resources to the weakest to enable them to be self-employed and self-dependent," Jaitley said in the post.

Already Rs 24,000 crore of loans have been distributed to 37 lakh beneficiaries under the scheme. "I anticipate that this year the number of beneficiaries crossing 1.5 crores. This number will increase year after year," Jaitley said. There are estimated 24 crore families in India. Thus at the bottom of the economic structure were these unfunded sections of the society, he said. They were dependent upon money lenders for loan on an exploitative rate of interest (24 to 36% ). India's industrial, service and agricultural sector are still not strong enough to absorb them in the employment, he said. There are 5.7 crore entrepreneurs in the unorganised sector who are responsible for creating 11 crore jobs.