Kolkata: Before disbursing fresh loans, Bengal govt will conduct an audit of self-help groups that have taken such loans earlier, panchayats and rural development minister Dilip Ghosh said on Wednesday.“There were allegations of misappropriation of funds in loans disbursed to the SHGs during the previous Trinamool Congress govt. We will conduct an audit of the SHGs to ascertain how many of them have taken loans and utilised them and how many of the groups are at all active,” Ghosh said at ‘Sashakt Sakhi Samriddh Bharat’, organised by National Commission for Women (NCW) in collaboration with West Bengal State Rural Livelihood Mission (WBSRLM).Stating that SHGs that have done good work would be eligible for a loan of Rs 3.5 lakh each, Ghosh said, “We have a target of disbursing loans to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore this fiscal.”According to minister, 12.5 lakh SHGs are in the state, but not all of them are active.Ghosh added that his department aimed to create 3 lakh ‘Lakhpati Didis’ this year.Speaking at the event, NCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar advocated for the use of AI and registration on GEM portal for enhancing business prospects of the SHGs in the state.
