'Loan limit under schemes for women too low'

New Delhi, Aug 19: The Parliamentary Committee on Empowerment of Women has found the loan limit of Rs 25000 the under micro credit scheme for women as too low to support any business venture in view of the prevailing costs of inputs.

In its seventh Report, it has recommended that the limit should be raised to Rs one lakh.

The Committee has castigated the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for its ''casual approach'' in treating its recommendations for taking up the matter with the Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of India for upward revision of the loan limit.

The panel said since the loan of Rs 25000 being given to beneficiaries under the Micro Credit Finanace Scheme and Mahila Samriddhi Yojna was not adequate to support new ventures in the present times, it had asked the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to take up the matter with the concerned Ministry, but it had not pursued the matter seriously.

''The committee regrets that the Ministry has chosen to remain silent about the response of the Ministry of Finance and the RBI to their proposal,'' observed the committee and directed the Ministry to act seriously on its recommendations and report back to it on the final decision taken in the matter.

It also ''deplored'' the attitude of the Ministry in furnishing ''casual'' replies to several of its recommendations and desired them to refrain from giving incomplete replies in future.

UNI