Differently-abled beneficiaries refused loan

The New Indian Express, Saturday March 17 2007 11:59 IST

BHAWANIPATNA: After being made to wait for about three years, 63 physically challenged persons of the district have been refused loan for no fault of theirs.

In June 2004, a team from Vocational Rehabilitation Centre, Bhubaneswar and Mahila Vikash Samabaya Nigam, the channelising agency of National Handicapped Development Financial Corporation in the State, visited Bhawanipatna and selected 63 beneficiaries from different parts of the district to provide them loan to take up various self-employment projects.

The Mahila Vikash Samabaya Nigam, Bhubaneswar was supposed to grant the loans.

The identified beneficiaries also submitted several documents including caste and disability certificates, residence and income certificates, educational qualification certificate, affidavits, route map of the place of business, project report of the business and bank pass book with cheque facilities for availing of the loan.

To the utter surprise of the district officials and the beneficiaries, after sitting over the applications for two years and nine months, the Mahila Vikash Samabaya Nigam returned them to the office of the District Social Welfare Officer last month.

Although the documents were sent back along with the applications, the cheque books submitted by the applicants were not returned.

The Nigam did not even give any reason for its denial to sanction the loan after keeping the applications pending for about three years.

And instead suggested the district administration to include these cases under any local scheme.

This has sparked off widespread resentment among the physically disabled beneficiaries.

"To collect different documents and to open a pass book in the bank, I had to face so many difficulties. I had invested more than Rs. 2000 then but now all that has gone down the drain," rued Debendra Goud, an applicant from Ramnagar Pada.

"This is like playing with our sentiments," he alleged.

Contacted District Social Welfare Officer, Kalahandi, Subash Chandra Digal said after the 63 applications were sent back, the district administration is trying to work out a way to cover these people under various local loan schemes.

The Nigam has also been requested to return all the documents of the applicants, he added.