Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi

PARLIAMENT OF INDIA

DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE

RAJYA SABHA

ON HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

REPORT NO.

310

February, 2019/Magha, 1940 (Saka)

(Presented to the Rajya Sabha on th February, )11 2019

(Laid on the Table of Lok Sabha on th February, )11 2019

THREE HUNDRED AND TENTH REPORT

ON

The Functioning of Rashtriya Mahila Kosh

Website : http://rajyasabha.nic.inE-mail : rsc-hrd@sansad.nic.in

20

PARLIAMENT OF INDIARAJYA SABHA

DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEEON HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

THREE HUNDRED AND TENTH REPORT

ONThe Functioning of Rashtriya Mahila Kosh

(Presented to the Rajya Sabha on 11th February, 2019)(Laid on the Table of Lok Sabha on 11th February, 2019)

Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New DelhiFebruary, 2019/Magha, 1940 (Saka)

Hindi version of this publication is also available

CONTENTSPAGES

1. COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE ............................................................................................ (i)-(ii)

2. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... (iii)

3. ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................................. (iv)

3. REPORT ...................................................................................................................................... 1-9

4. OBSERVATIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS — AT A GLANCE ............................................................... 10-12

5. MINUTES .................................................................................................................................... 13-18

COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE(Constituted w.e.f. 1st September, 2018)

1. Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya — Chairman

RAJYA SABHA2. Shri Partap Singh Bajwa3. Shrimati Vandana Chavan4. Prof. Jogen Chowdhury5. Prof. M.V. Rajeev Gowda6. Shri Anubhav Mohanty7. Shri Vishambhar Prasad Nishad8. Dr. Sasikala Pushpa Ramaswamy9. Dr. Vinay P. Sahasrabuddhe

10. Shri Gopal Narayan Singh

LOK SABHA11. Shrimati Santosh Ahlawat12. Shri Bijoy Chandra Barman13. Shri Nihal Chand Chauhan14. Ms. Bhawana Gawali (Patil)15. Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste16. Shrimati Geetha Kothapalli18. Shri Bhairon Prasad Mishra19. Shri Ramachandran Mullappally21. Shri Hari Om Pandey22. Dr. Bhagirath Prasad23. Shri N.K. Premachandran22. Shri Krishnan Narayanaswamy Ramachandran23. Shri Sumedhanand Saraswati

*24. Shri V.S. Ugrappa25. Dr. Nepal Singh26. Dr. Prabhas Kumar Singh27. Shri Satya Pal Singh28. Shrimati Neelam Sonker29. Shri P.R. Sundaram30. Shrimati P.K. Sreemathi Teacher31. Shrimati Tabassum Begum

(i)

* Nominated to the Committee w.e.f. 17th January, 2019.

(ii)

SECRETARIATShri K. P. Singh, Joint SecretaryShri Rajiva Srivastava, DirectorShri Vinay Shankar Singh, Additional DirectorShrimati Himanshi Arya, Under SecretaryShri K. Sudhir Kumar, Research OfficerShri Mohit Mishra, Committee OfficerShrimati Suman Khurana, Committee Officer

INTRODUCTION

I, the Chairman of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human ResourceDevelopment, having been authorised by the Committee, present this Three Hundred and Tenth Report ofthe Committee on the subject The Functioning of Rashtriya Mahila Kosh.

2. The Committee held a meeting on 25th January, 2019 with the Executive Director and other officialsof Rashtriya Mahila Kosh on the functioning of Rashtriya Mahila Kosh and steps needed to be taken tostrengthen it.

3. While drafting the Report, the Committee relied on the following documents:

(i) status note on functioning of Rashtriya Mahila Kosh received from the Ministry of Women andChild Development;

(ii) comments/clarifications given by the Ministry on the questionnaire on the functioning of RashtriyaMahila Kosh; and

(iii) Comparison of important aspects of Mudra Scheme with Rashtriya Mahila Kosh.

4. The Committee considered the Draft Report and adopted the same in its meeting held on 8thFebruary, 2019.

5. For facility of the reference, observations and recommendations of the Committee have been printed

in bold letters at the end of Report.

DR. SATYANARAYAN JATIYANEW DELHI; Chairman,8th February, 2019 Department-related Parliamentary StandingMagha 19, 1940 (Saka) Committee on Human Resource Development,

Rajya Sabha.

(iii)

ACRONYMS

1. RMK : Rashtriya Mahila Kosh

2. SHGs : Self Help Groups

3. JLGs : Joint Liability Groups

4. IMOs : Intermediary Micro-Organisations

5. DBT : Direct Benefit Transfer

6. NIPCCD : National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development

7. PMMY : Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana

8. MCLR : Marginal Cost Lending Rate

9. ISAP : Indian Society for Agribusiness Professionals

10. DoPT : Department of Personal and Training

(iv)

1

REPORT

OVERVIEW

The Government of India set up “Rashtriya Mahila Kosh” (RMK) a National Credit Fund forWomen on 30th March, 1993 as an apex funding organisation under the Department of Women andChild Development (now Ministry) exclusively for the women based on the recommendations madeby National Commission for Self-employed Women in the Informal Sector. The Commission in itsreport titled “SHRAM SHAKTI” recommended innovations in the credit mechanism to assist poorwomen who were unfamiliar with the complexities of institutional finance and suggested setting upof an exclusive credit body for poor and self-employed women in recognition of their socio-economic realities.

2. The budgetary support received from the Government is for Corpus Fund which is utilisedfor its lending purposes by RMK. At present the total corpus fund of RMK is ` 284 crores as on31.03.2018, which includes principal corpus of ` 100 crores received from GOI and an equivalentamount being reserves and surpluses generated from internal resources.

3. RMK provides micro-credit to women Self-help Groups (SHGs) / Joint Liability Groups(JLGs) including women micro-entrepreneurs in both rural and urban areas through IntermediaryMicro-financing Organisations (IMOs) like NGOs. Apart from micro credit, it also builds thecapacities of SHGs women-members and the partner organisations by imparting trainings in financialmanagement, project management, enterprise development, skill up-gradation, exposure visits, etc.Marketing assistance to the women beneficiaries is also arranged. RMK aims at holistic developmentof women through micro-finance. The IMOs are advised to dovetail their micro-finance programmeswith activities like imparting financial literacy, education, awareness on health, hygiene, nutrition,HIV/ AIDS, legal rights etc.

4. The Ministry of Women and Child Development in its submission in the meeting held withthe Committee on 22nd October, 2018 outlined the key objectives of RMK as follows:

(a) to promote / undertake activities for the promotion of or to provide credit as aninstrument of socio-economic change and development through the provision of a packageof financial and social development services for the development of women;

(b) to promote research, study, documentation and analysis of credit and its management;and

(c) to promote replication and dissemination of successful credit extension and managementmethodologies.

5. The Ministry also informed the Committee that credit is provided to the poor women beneficiariesunder Self Help Group (SHG) model through Intermediary Micro Financing Organizations (IMOs)working at grass root level such as NGOs, Voluntary Organizations, Cooperative Societies, StateGovernment Agencies like Dairy Federations, etc., by following friendly and simple procedure forvarious livelihood and income generation activities.

6. The Ministry further informed that apart from giving micro-credit, RMK also strengthen thecapabilities of SHGs / women members and partner organizations through trainings in financial

2

management including risk and project management, enterprise development and assistance in marketingto bring about holistic development.

7. Keeping in view the social importance of the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh, the Committee decidedto take up the working of the Kosh for detailed examination. Thereafter, the Committee held ameeting with the Executive Director, Rashtriya Mahila Kosh on 25th January, 2019. The majorissues discussed and the submissions made in the meeting have been dealt with in succeedingparagraphs.

8. The Ministry vide its status note furnished on 25th January, 2019 informed the Committeeabout the State/UT-wise details of Cumulative Sanctions and Disbursements and Number of Beneficiariessince inception till 18.01.2019 as following:

(Amount in ` lakh)Sl.No. State/UT Name Sanction Disbursement Beneficiaries

1. Andaman Nicobar 40.00 40.00 667

2. Andhra Pradesh 8,168.41 7,168.48 1,97,839

3. Arunanchal Pradesh 10.00 5.00 100

4. Assam 535.90 503.90 7,005

5. Bihar 667.25 508.83 17,369

6. Chhattisgarh 14.50 8.50 370

7. Delhi 954.72 839.62 7,742

8. Gujarat 223.50 193.50 7,173

9. Haryana 350.01 324.16 4,502

10. Himachal Pradesh 676.48 655.63 12,925

11. Jammu & Kashmir 182.00 107.00 1,986

12. Jharkhand 250.43 190.20 2,428

13. Karnataka 1,169.25 619.00 19,415

14. Kerala 866.22 682.52 34,257

15. Madhya Pradesh 2,347.30 2,042.40 22,416

16. Maharashtra 1,746.90 1,477.55 36,135

17. Manipur 284.05 216.04 8,421

18. Mizoram 4.00 2.00 70

19. Nagaland 74.00 45.50 859

20. Odisha 2,334.45 2,203.55 39,272

3

21. Pondicherry 51.00 16.00 300

22. Punjab 141.00 37.50 500

23. Rajasthan 2,016.90 1,872.74 30470

24. Tamil Nadu 8,228.84 6,655.77 170209

25. Telangana 1,712.40 1,442.70 32553

26. Uttar Pradesh 1,002.25 675.12 26939

27. Uttarakhand 419.24 389.89 3148

28. West Bengal 2,681.29 2,189.29 55283

TOTAL 37,152.29 31,112.38 7,40353

9. The Committee was further informed that since Rashtriya Mahila Kosh was undertaking therevision of loan guidelines, physical and financial targets were not fixed for the financial year 2016-17and 2017-18. However, targets are fixed for FY 2018-19. The details are given hereunder:

Year Target Achievement

Financial Physical (Number Financial Physical (Number(` in Lakhs) of Beneficiaries) (` in Lakhs) of Beneficiaries)

2016-17 - - 55.00 310

2017-18 - - 117.50 2915

2018-19 (Till 3000.00 12000 701.50 219918.01.2019)

10. The Ministry in its comments/clarifications submitted in response to the questionnaire statedthat the loan lending guidelines of RMK have been revised and implemented to ensure that the loanis sanctioned and disbursed by RMK to only efficiently functioning IMOs. The salient features ofthe revised guidelines are as follows:

(a) Registration at the NITI Aayog portal

(b) Details of End Beneficiaries

(c) Introduction of Internal Risk Rating assessment

(d) Disbursement through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)

(e) Loan amount: The maximum lending amount per individual beneficiary shall not exceed.

New Borrower : `60,000/-

Repeat Borrower : `1,00,000/- (existing plus new loan)

Sl.No. State/UT Name Sanction Disbursement Beneficiaries

4

(f) Margin: The organisation is required to contribute a margin of 10% of the loan to beavailed from RMK

(g) Repayment: Monthly in place of Quarterly

(h) Fixing Promoters’ Responsibility

(i) The rate of interest on loans availed by IMOs and also on-lending rate to SHGs/beneficiaries as :

RMK to IMO - 6% p.a. on reducing balance

IMO to SHG/Beneficiary - any rate on or above 6% p.a. subject to a maximumceiling of 10% p.a. to end-beneficiaries on reducing balance.

11. The Joint Secretary, RMK further informed that it had been noted before the guidelines wererevised that the IMOs/NGOs would take the money from the organisation but delayed the disbursementof loans to the intended beneficiaries. Accordingly, it was informed that as per the revised loanguidelines, to get rid of delay in disbursement of loans to intended beneficiaries and to cut downon the delayed once the loan is sanctioned, RMK intimates to IMOs by issuing sanction letters. Onreceipt of the same, IMOs are advised to complete the documentation for release of loans. AlsoIMOs are advised to transfer the amount to the end beneficiaries within 30 days from the date ofrelease of loan by RMK. It is closely monitored by RMK to ensure that the loan amount is releasedby IMOs in time. If disbursements to end beneficiaries are not made by the IMOs within the abovestipulated period, penal interest is levied by RMK @ 2% per annum from 31 days to 60 days and@ 6% per annum thereafter. RMK also reserves its right to recall the undisbursed amount by IMOsto end beneficiaries with penal interest in the event of delay in disbursements stipulated as above.

12. The Committee was also informed that as of now, RMK has financed 7.40 Lakh womenbeneficiaries covering 28 States in the country through nearly 1500 IMOs. To a pointed query, theCommittee was informed that maintaining individual accounts of each beneficiaries will not be costeffective and feasible. Appraisal and supervision of individual beneficiaries / account will increasethe cost of lending, resulting in higher interest rate to the beneficiaries thereby defeating thepurpose of RMK. Also RMK does not have Branches except the present office in Delhi. Withoutbranch office it is virtually not possible to monitor and recover loan from individual beneficiaries.

13. The representatives of RMK informed that the problem faced in the effective implementationof the Scheme are lack of adequate manpower. The Ministry of Women and Child Developmenthas taken up the issue with the Ministry of Finance. However, the Ministry of Finance advised towait till the status of autonomous bodies is reviewed by NITI Aayog. NITI Aayog during the 19thmeeting of the Committee for the Review of Autonomous Bodies, held under the chairpersonshipof Principal Advisor, NITI Aayog on 11th December, 2018, reiterated that RMK is a fit case forchange in its constitution. Accordingly, the Ministry examined the issue and decided to maintainstatus quo with regard to RMK. The Ministry has permitted to induct Consultants at RMK to lookafter the critical functions like Loans, Administration, Accounts, Legal and Official Language forits effective functioning.

14. It was further informed that there are 37 sanctioned posts in the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh ofwhich at present 21 posts are lying vacant. This includes the posts of the Executive Director and

5

General Manager. Officers from the Ministry at present are holding additional charges of ExecutiveDirector and General Manager posts. A tabulated statement of the present position is given below:

Sl.No. Name of post No. of sanctioned Filled up/ *Engaged Vacantstrength on contract basis

1. Executive Director 1 1 -

2. General Manager 1 1 -

3. Dy. Director (on deputation) 5 2 3

4. Asstt. Director 3 - 3

5. Prog. Executive 4 2 2

6. Sr. Stenographer 1 - 1

7. Office Executive 6 - 6

8. Office Executive (Hindi) 1 - 1

9. Stenographer 5 - 5

10. Jr. Executive 4 4 -

11. Staff Car Driver 2 2 -

12. Office Messenger (Peon) 4 4 -

TOTAL 37 16 21

15. As regards the post of Executive Director in RMK the Committee was informed that theMinistry had advertised a number of times for filling up the post of Executive Director in RashtriyaMahila Kosh. It was tried through DoPT also by encadering the post under Central StaffingScheme. Still, no selection could be made due to poor response. As an interim arrangement till aregular incumbent joins to the post, additional charges were given to its Officers.

16. The Committee was further informed that to give SHGs training on credit management andskill training to individual women, RMK requested the National Institute of Public Cooperation andChild Development (NIPCCD), the training agency under the Ministry of WCD to provide slots fortrainings during the FY 2018-19. NIPCCD has provided three slots for undertaking Orientation /capacity building training to IMOs/ beneficiaries of RMK during December, 2018. Further, awarenessworkshops are organised regularly for SHG members at the time of pre-sanction and post- sanctionstudies undertaken by RMK.

17. During the course of the meeting held on the 25th January, 2019, on a pointed querythe Committee was informed that nearly 57% women beneficiaries of the RMK loanrecipients were from Southern States and remaining from the rest part of the Country. Toreach out women in the Northern and North Eastern States of the Country, RMK has beenundertaking awareness drive to invite proposals from IMOs belonging to these States. AlsoRMK has written letters to many Organisations involved in the empowerment of women in

6

these States to submit their proposals for getting loan. The Committee was also apprisedthat besides this, RMK provides the following Special Package for IMOs of North EasternStates:

Organisation can apply after one year of registration.

Margin only at 5% of the loan.

Grace period on repayment is of 12months

Repayment period of loan enhanced to 5 years i.e. 60 months.

NGO will be supported with 10% of loan as capacity building assistance.

Second Class to and fro rail fare and where there is no rail link, cheaper class to andfro air fare, up to 2 members of NGO for execution of documents in Delhi.

18. The Ministry also submitted that the following default procedures are undertaken for effectiverecovery of disbursed loan amounts:-

(a) Whenever the first instalment becomes due, reminder notices are sent to the party byemail, registered post and even contacted over phone to immediately make remittancesand regularise the account.

(b) In case there is no response to the notices and periodical reminders and when morethan three instalments become due, steps for blacklisting the borrower IMO are initiated.

(c) Show cause notices are issued directing the IMO to make payment within a stipulatedtime.

(d) Show cause notices are issued thrice and if there is no response from the borrower theIMO account is blacklisted after obtaining permission from the competent authority.

(e) Blacklisting of IMO is duly informed to all the controlling offices of Financial Institutions/Banks/Government Organizations/Ministries etc

(f) Simultaneously Post dated Cheques obtained from borrower if any is also presented inthe bank for payment after sending due information letter to borrower about suchpresentation of cheque. If the cheque is returned/ dishonoured, Criminal cases U/s 138of Negotiable Instruments Act are filed.

(g) Regular reminders and the statement of Accounts are sent to borrower IMOs periodicallyinstructing them for regularising their loan account.

(h) In spite of above efforts when such default loan accounts are not regularised then legalsteps are initiated to file Civil Suit or Arbitration proceedings in terms of the loanagreement as the case maybe.

(i) In chronic cases even Police complaints are registered.

(j) Whenever officials go on Pre or Post sanction visits, default IMOs in the area are alsocontacted for recovery/regularising the account.

7

PRADHAN MANTRI MUDRA YOJANA VIS-À-VIS RMK

19. The Committee sought a comparative analysis of the PMMY and RMK from the Ministry. Inresponse the Ministry submitted that under the PMMY the beneficiary who wishes to avail the loanshould visit any Bank branch and complete all documentation formalities before getting the loan.Further, the interest rate are to be charged as per the policy decision of the bank i.e. mostly above10% to end beneficiaries and also it is Compound rate of interest. Also interest rates are differentfrom one bank to another due to its Marginal Cost Lending Rate (MCLR) which varies from Bankto Bank. Finally, the objective of Mudra Scheme is to provide loans of up to ` 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm, small and micro enterprises.

20. The Ministry further stated that in comparison to Banks, RMK provides loans to the womenbeneficiaries at their door steps and also assist them by arranging capacity building training incollaboration with IMO’s in their location itself. Also, interest charged to end beneficiaries may varyfrom the minimum of 6% to the maximum ceiling of 10% simple rate of interest and on reducingbalance.

21. The Committee was further informed that in 2013, Indian Society for Agribusiness Professionals(ISAP) New Delhi, an independent organisation evaluated the socio-economic impact of RMK loanon improvement in the living condition of poor women beneficiaries. The scope of this studyincluded in-depth interaction with intermediary Organisations (IMOs) and to assess socio-economicimpact on women SHGs. After analysis of the said impact, the outcome was found to be positiveon economic front i.e. increase in net income, savings of the beneficiaries and on social front i.e.earning self-respect & participation in decision making in families.

OBSERVATIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS

22. The Committee notes that there has been an uneven distribution of RMK beneficiariesthroughout the country, for example some States like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh hadlarge number of beneficiaries but States like Assam, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Uttarakhandand so on were lagging behind. The Committee urges the Ministry to ensure that strategiesare formulated to extend RMK loans to the under-represented States, so that the State-wisedistribution of beneficiaries becomes more even and balanced.

23. The Committee notes that the pace of expenditure has been slow as is evident fromthe fact that out of the Financial Target of `̀̀̀̀ 3000.00 lakh, only `̀̀̀̀ 701.50 lakh has beenachieved till 18.01.2019. This necessitates serious introspection about spending of allocatedfunds as per the stipulated action plan for RMK. The Committee urges the Ministry toensure that RMK adopts a more pro-active approach to ensure that the funds are wellutilized and become a source of empowerment and development for poor women beneficiaries.

24. The Committee notes that the RMK extends loans to IMOs at 6% p.a. on reducingbalance and in turn the IMOs extend loans to SHGs/ individual beneficiaries at any rate orabove 6% subject to maximum ceiling of 10% p.a. on reducing balance. The Committee isof the opinion that RMK should hold discussions with Banks to explore the feasibility ofextending loans under RMK using the banking networks so that RMK loans can be givento the intended beneficiaries at the lowest possible interest rates. The Committee is alsoof the opinion that proper steps should be taken to increase the operational efficiency of

8

the IMOs to ensure that the benefits envisaged under the RMK reach the maximum numberof women.

25. The Committee expresses its concern at the state of affairs with RMK wherein out of37 sanctioned posts, 21 are lying vacant and 16 have been filled up on contractual basis.The Committee urges the Ministry to fill up the vacant posts, at the earliest, as shortageof adequate manpower tends to affect the overall efficiency and effectiveness of theorganisation.

26. The Committee takes note of the fact that the Ministry advertised for the post ofExecutive Director of the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh a number of times. It was tried throughDoPT also by encadering the post under Central Staffing Scheme. Still, no selection couldbe made due to poor response. In this respect, to improve the response, the Committeewould urge the Ministry to revise the rules and regulations prescribing the qualifications forthe post of Executive Director, RMK. Further, the Ministry should hold consultations withthe different stakeholders while revising the qualifications needed for the post of ExecutiveDirector to ensure that the qualifications prescribed are as per the needs of the organisation.

27. The Committee observes that the responsibility of RMK, does not end with the disbursingof loan to women beneficiaries. In fact, RMK should also involve itself in imparting trainingto the beneficiaries. This is of critical importance because the beneficiaries generally tendto have limited knowledge of finance. The Committee would like to add that RMK shall tie-up with the Skill India Project of the Government to help the beneficiaries.

28. The Committee further notes that Rashtriya Mahila Kosh has not taken any step inmobilising resources from government, public and private donors and other developmentalagencies. At present, RMK has corpus of `̀̀̀̀100 Crores and reserves and surpluses to thetune of 184 Crores and the same is being utilised for its developmental activities. TheCommittee is of the view that RMK should adopt a more vigorous strategy to raise resources.This would also help raise awareness about the aims and objectives of the RMK.

29. The Committee notes that there are a large number of bad loans pending with RMK.The Committee in this respect would like to urge the Ministry to undertake a study of thereasons for the failure of the business ventures of the beneficiaries and if these womenbeneficiaries could be helped to revive their business with financial and management supportfrom RMK. On the other hand, the Ministry should frame a suitable one time settlementscheme for amicable settlement of eligible cases who wish to close their accounts with RMK.This would help decrease the pending bad loans with the organisation.

30. The Committee would like to emphasise that the processing of loan applications shouldbe quick and hassle free so that the beneficiaries get the loan at the earliest for them tostart their business venture. Further, the Ministry should take adequate steps to popularisethe scheme especially in rural and remote areas of the country so that the women livingin such areas can avail loans for their socio-economic empowerment. The Ministry shouldadvertise about the working of RMK to increase its popularity. The Ministry could ventureout with the concept of periodically arranging ‘loan Melas’ in identified areas of differentStates in coordination with respective State government authorities and concerned M.P.s/

9

MLAs/Local Bodies etc. so as to facilitate awareness among the needy poor women to comeforward to avail the loan facilities available with RMK.

31. The Committee takes this opportunity to impress upon the Ministry to revamp theorganisation. The Ministry should explore the possibility of setting up regional offices sothat it can better monitor the disbursement of loans and selection of beneficiaries.

32. The Committee is of the opinion that the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh should continue toextend micro-finance to the poorest and asset-less women for their socio-economic empowerment.The Ministry should ensure that the loans are made available to the women at the lowestinterest rate possible and in a hassle free manner as it would help in bringing socio-economic empowerment of the women and also these women would become a role model forother women and girls in their vicinity.

33. The Committee observes that Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) was set up way back in1993 and it has been functioning since then. Now more than 25 years have gone by, theCommittee is not aware whether the Ministry has ever carried out any impact study orassessment concerning RMK. The Committee wishes that the Ministry should conduct animpact study/assessment of the RMK with regard to its efficiency; the extent to wihch it hasbeen successful in meeting the desired goals; whether it could reach out to the intendedbeneficiaries across the country; what has been its role vis-as-vis the similar schemes beingimplemented by the Public Sector Banks as well as other Non Banking Financial Institutions:whether there are any gaps or overlapping vis-a-vis in the functioning of those banks andNon Banking Financial Institutions; whether RMK should be converted into a Non BankingFinancial Institution and any other structural change which may be required to meet theneeds of present time.

OBSERVATIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS — AT A GLANCE

The Committee notes that there has been an uneven distribution of RMK beneficiariesthroughout the country, for example some States like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh had largenumber of beneficiaries but States like Assam, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and so onwere lagging behind. The Committee urges the Ministry to ensure that strategies are formulatedto extend RMK loans to the under-represented States, so that the State-wise distribution ofbeneficiaries becomes more even and balanced. (Para 22)

The Committee notes that the pace of expenditure has been slow as is evident fromthe fact that out of the Financial Target of `̀̀̀̀ 3000.00 lakh, only `̀̀̀̀ 701.50 lakh has beenachieved till 18.01.2019. This necessitates serious introspection about spending of allocatedfunds as per the stipulated action plan for RMK. The Committee urges the Ministry toensure that RMK adopts a more pro-active approach to ensure that the funds are wellutilized and become a source of empowerment and development for poor womenbeneficiaries. (Para 23)

The Committee notes that the RMK extends loans to IMOs at 6% p.a. on reducingbalance and in turn the IMOs extend loans to SHGs/ individual beneficiaries at any rate orabove 6% subject to maximum ceiling of 10% p.a. on reducing balance. The Committee isof the opinion that RMK should hold discussions with Banks to explore the feasibility ofextending loans under RMK using the banking networks so that RMK loans can be givento the intended beneficiaries at the lowest possible interest rates. The Committee is alsoof the opinion that proper steps should be taken to increase the operational efficiency ofthe IMOs to ensure that the benefits envisaged under the RMK reach the maximum numberof women. (Para 24)

The Committee expresses its concern at the state of affairs with RMK wherein out of37 sanctioned posts, 21 are lying vacant and 16 have been filled up on contractual basis.The Committee urges the Ministry to fill up the vacant posts, at the earliest, as shortageof adequate manpower tends to affect the overall efficiency and effectiveness of theorganisation. (Para 25)

The Committee takes note of the fact that the Ministry advertised for the post ofExecutive Director of the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh a number of times. It was tried throughDoPT also by encadering the post under Central Staffing Scheme. Still, no selection couldbe made due to poor response. In this respect, to improve the response, the Committeewould urge the Ministry to revise the rules and regulations prescribing the qualificationsfor the post of Executive Director, RMK. Further, the Ministry should hold consultationswith the different stakeholders while revising the qualifications needed for the post ofExecutive Director to ensure that the qualifications prescribed are as per the needs of theorganisation. (Para 26)

The Committee observes that the responsibility of RMK, does not end with the disbursingof loan to women beneficiaries. In fact, RMK should also involve itself in imparting trainingto the beneficiaries. This is of critical importance because the beneficiaries generally tend

10

11

to have limited knowledge of finance. The Committee would like to add that RMK shall tie-up with the Skill India Project of the Government to help the beneficiaries. (Para 27)

The Committee further notes that Rashtriya Mahila Kosh has not taken any step inmobilising resources from government, public and private donors and other developmentalagencies. At present, RMK has corpus of `̀̀̀̀100 Crores and reserves and surpluses to the tuneof 184 Crores and the same is being utilised for its developmental activities. The Committeeis of the view that RMK should adopt a more vigorous strategy to raise resources. Thiswould also help raise awareness about the aims and objectives of the RMK. (Para 28)

The Committee notes that there are a large number of bad loans pending with RMK.The Committee in this respect would like to urge the Ministry to undertake a study of thereasons for the failure of the business ventures of the beneficiaries and if these womenbeneficiaries could be helped to revive their business with financial and management supportfrom RMK. On the other hand, the Ministry should frame a suitable one time settlementscheme for amicable settlement of eligible cases who wish to close their accounts with RMK.This would help decrease the pending bad loans with the organisation. (Para 29)

The Committee would like to emphasise that the processing of loan applications shouldbe quick and hassle free so that the beneficiaries get the loan at the earliest for them tostart their business venture. Further, the Ministry should take adequate steps to popularisethe scheme especially in rural and remote areas of the country so that the women livingin such areas can avail loans for their socio-economic empowerment. The Ministry shouldadvertise about the working of RMK to increase its popularity. The Ministry could ventureout with the concept of periodically arranging ‘loan Melas’ in identified areas of differentStates in coordination with respective State government authorities and concerned M.P.s/MLAs/Local Bodies etc. so as to facilitate awareness among the needy poor women to comeforward to avail the loan facilities available with RMK. (Para 30)

The Committee takes this opportunity to impress upon the Ministry to revamp theorganisation. The Ministry should explore the possibility of setting up regional offices so thatit can better monitor the disbursement of loans and selection of beneficiaries. (Para 31)

The Committee is of the opinion that the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh should continue toextend micro-finance to the poorest and asset-less women for their socio-economic empowerment.The Ministry should ensure that the loans are made available to the women at the lowestinterest rate possible and in a hassle free manner as it would help in bringing socio-economic empowerment of the women and also these women would become a role model forother women and girls in their vicinity. (Para 32)

The Committee observes that Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) was set up way back in1993 and it has been functioning since then. Now more than 25 years have gone by, theCommittee is not aware whether the Ministry has ever carried out any impact study orassessment concerning RMK. The Committee wishes that the Ministry should conduct animpact study/assessment of the RMK with regard to its efficiency; the extent to wihch it hasbeen successful in meeting the desired goals; whether it could reach out to the intendedbeneficiaries across the country; what has been its role vis-as-vis the similar schemes being

12

implemented by the Public Sector Banks as well as other Non Banking Financial Institutions:whether there are any gaps or overlapping vis-a-vis in the functioning of those banks andNon Banking Financial Institutions; whether RMK should be converted into a Non BankingFinancial Institution and any other structural change which may be required to meet theneeds of present time. (Para 33)

MINUTES

15

VFIFTH MEETING

RECORD NOTE OF THE DISCUSSION OF THE DEPARTMENT-RELATEDPARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCE

DEVELOPMENT

The Committee on Human Resource Development met at 11.00 A.M. on Friday, the 25th

January, 2019 in Committee Room No. ‘04’, A Block, Parliament House Annexe Extension,New Delhi.

MEMBERS PRESENT

1. Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya — Chairman

RAJYA SABHA2. Shri Partap Singh Bajwa3. Dr. Vinay P. Sahasrabuddhe

LOK SABHA4. Dr. Bhagirath Prasad5. Dr. Nepal Singh

SECRETARIATShri K. P. Singh, Joint SecretaryShri Rajiva Srivastava, DirectorShri Vinay Shankar Singh, Additional DirectorShrimati Himanshi Arya, Under SecretaryShri K. Sudhir Kumar, Research OfficerShri Mohit Misra, Committee OfficerShrimati Suman Khurana, Committee Officer

WITNESSES:

Sh. L.K. Meena, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, and ExecutiveDirector, RMK.Ms. Anuradha S. Chagti, Joint Secretary (RMK), Ministry of Women and Child Development.Shri K.C. Behera, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, and GeneralManager, RMK.Shri Manoj Kumar Acharjee, Senior Consultant (Administration), RMKMs. Sushma Anand, Senior Consultant (Loans), RMK.Shri. Naresh Kumar Gupta, Senior Consultant (Loans) RMK.

At the outset, the Chairman welcomed the Members and the officials of Rashtriya MahilaKosh, Ministry of Women & Child Development to the meeting. Thereafter, he sought clarificationson the following issues related to the working of Rashtriya Mahila Kosh :

16

(i) the status of the implementation of various loan schemes by the IMOs/NGOs in differentStates;

(ii) steps taken to ensure better monitoring of the NGOs / IMOs; and

(iii) steps taken to fill up the vacancy of the Executive Director in Rashtriya Mahila Koshby a full time officer.

2. The Executive Director, Rashtriya Mahila Kosh and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Women andChild Development informed the Committee that the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh was set up in the year1993, however, during the last few years its performance had not been very good, thereafter, itwas decided to revise the loan guidelines to ensure that the end beneficiaries get the maximumadvantage. Further, it was decided to black list a number of IMOs / NGOs which were found tobe involved in suspicious activities. Subsequent, to the revised loan guidelines, the Rashtriya Mahilahas now been focussing on extending the financial benefits to the needy women in the best possiblemanner. The Committee was also informed about the steps taken to monitor the IMOs/NGOs,reducing the maximum interest rates that could be charged from the beneficiaries, devising specialstrategy for North East States and so on.

3. As regards the steps taken to fill up the post of Executive Director with a full time officer,the Committee was informed that DoPT had been requested a number of times to select an officerfor the post. However, the efforts are still underway and a number of changes has been made toattract more applicants for the post under the Central Staffing Scheme encadring it in the JointSecretary scale. The Ministry expressed the hope that DoPT would soon fill up the post.

4. The Members observed that there was a skewed distribution of beneficiaries among the Statesand a number of States were very poorly represented in the beneficiaries’ list. It was also pointedout that the performance of RMK during the last three Financial Years was not very robust andmore efforts were needed to ensure that the benefits envisaged reach the needy women. The needfor generating awareness about the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh among the people was also felt so thatthe needy women and associated IMOs/NGOs can approach the organisation for loans for theirbusiness ventures leading to their empowerment. It was also emphasised that credit delivery shouldbe fast and hassle free so that the women who are usually semi-literate do not face too manyobstacles in getting the loans.

5. The Chairman, in his observation pointed out that sincere efforts were required to re-energisethe organisation. More funds are required to be arranged for the intended beneficiaries. He emphasisedon the need to provide training and marketing facilities to the women beneficiaries so that they canset-up profitable ventures on the basis of loans provided by Rashtriya Mahila Kosh. He further,directed the officials present to submit their comments/ clarifications on the issues raised in themeeting within a period of one week.

6. The Committee then adjourned at 12.40 P.M.

17

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARYSTANDING COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

VFIFTH MEETING

The Committee on Human Resource Development met at 10.30 A.M. on Thursday, the 8thFebruary, 2019 in Committee Room No. ‘62’, First Floor, Parliament House, New Delhi.

MEMBERS PRESENT

1. Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya — Chairman

RAJYA SABHA2. Shri Partap Singh Bajwa3. Shrimati Vandana Chavan4. Shri Vishambhar Prasad Nishad

LOK SABHA5. Shrimati Santosh Ahlawat6. Shri Nihal Chand Chouhan7. Shri Bhairon Prasad Mishra8. Dr. Bhagirath Prasad9. Shri V. S. Ugrappa

10. Dr. Prabhas Kumar Singh11. Shri Satyapal Singh12. Shri Sumedhanand Saraswati

SECRETARIATShri K. P. Singh, Joint SecretaryShri Rajiva Srivastava, DirectorShri Vinay Shankar Singh, Additional DirectorShrimati Himanshi Arya, Under SecretaryShri K. Sudhir Kumar, Research OfficerShrimati Suman Khurana, Committee Officer

2. At the outset, the Chairman welcomed Shri V. S. Ugrappa, the recently nominated Memberto this Committee and then also welcomed the other Members to the meeting of the Committeeconvened to consider and adopt the draft (i) 309th Report on the Action Taken by the Governmenton the Observations/Recommendations contained in the Three Hundred and Fifth Report on theDemands for Grants (2018-2019) of the Department of School Education and Literacy, and(ii) 310th Report on the ‘Functioning of Rashtriya Mahila Kosh’.

3. The Committee considered the draft 309th and 310th Reports and adopted them after somediscussion.

18

4. The Committee, then, decided to present the 309th and 310th Reports to the Rajya Sabha andlay on the table of Lok Sabha on 11th February, 2019. The Committee authorized the Chairmanand in his absence, Shrimati Vandana Chavan, Member, Rajya Sabha to present the Reports in theRajya Sabha and Shri Bharion Prasad Mishra, Member, Lok Sabha and in his absence Shri SatyaPal Singh, Member, Lok Sabha to lay the Reports in the Lok Sabha.

5. The Committee then adjourned at 11.00 A.M.