MUDRA repackaging of previous schemes: JMM

RANCHI: Terming MUDRA Yojana a "repackaging" of previous loan schemes, JMM leader Hemant Soren today asked BJP whether it was a ' Bihar election stunt' from Jharkhand.

"Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana is nothing but a repackaging of previous loan schemes like IRDP ... Is it really development or Bihar election stunt from Jharkhand," Soren said at a press conference hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off MUDRA Yojana from Dumka, the JMM bastion.

He said the erstwhile IRDP scheme had also been inaugurated on October 2, 1980 with provisions of loans and sought to know whether the Centre assessed its failure.

"Our (previous JMM-led) government had also given loans with just four per cent interest and grant-in-aid with 50 per cent reservation for ST/SC/BC and other sections. Has MUDRA got any reservation provision," the former Jharkhand chief minister and now the working president of JMM said.

He said that his government had given loans for buses, auto-rickshaws and for other purposes.

Questioning the credibility of a recent survey that placed Jharkhand in third position for ease of doing business, Soren said the BJP-ruled states found places between one and five on the list.

On the launching of distribution of free LPG connections by the government, Soren said grains and infrastructure were more important as the Santhal Parganas region was facing drought.

The leader of the opposition in Jharkhand Assembly added that had the Centre been serious about the uplift of Santhal Pargana region which comprises six districts, the prime minister should have announced a financial package of Rs 20,000 crore.