RAJSHAHI, Jan 28 (BSS): Around 34,000 poor and extreme poor women in the city's slum and underprivileged communities have founded around Taka 95 million as savings with their own efforts of freeing themselves from poverty and hunger, community people and other officials concerned said.
Against the savings, some 4,500 women received collateral-free loan for addressing their emergency family needs through operating diversified income-generation activities like small business. Total credit figure is around Taka 422.5 million till December last. However, recovery rate of the disbursed loan is hundred percent.
In every week, each member deposit Taka 10 to 30 as savings and receive loan amounting Taka 5,000 to 50,000 from their deposits at the rate of 15 percent service charge. From the service charge, around Taka four crore were disbursed among the beneficiaries for more moneymaking activities.
Ummaton Begum, 38, who leads her four-member family in Gangpara community, has become a successful grocery shop owner. She pays monthly installment of Taka 7,350 against her credit of Taka 70,000 regularly through operating her shop. At present, Jahanara of the same community becomes owner of two auto-rickshaws that enables her to come out from the vicious cycle of poverty. Selina and Sonabhan also stated similar type of stories.
Taka 0.77 million were disbursed among 223 members under Firojabad community till April last, said Sabera Yeasmin, a community leader.
"The poor and extreme-poor women have availed the scopes of eradicating their long-lasting poverty through the self-managed savings and credit activities," Shariful Islam Babu, Ward Councilor of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), said.
After taking loan from the respective community development committees, many of the primary group members are operating different kinds of small- business successfully allowing them to have access to a regular income.
Babu said an anti-poverty programme titled "Urban Partnership for Poverty Reduction Project (UPPRP)" is controlling and monitoring the entire savings- credit activities.
UNDP in association with UKaid and UNHabitat extends financial and technical support the project that's being implemented since 2008 with the main thrust of improving living and livelihood condition of the city's poor and slum populations.
Nur Islam, Executive Engineer of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) said all the 173 communities operate their own savings scheme that created a revolving fund from which credit operations are managed through the savings credit programme generating a new dimension of women empowerment and curtailing urban poverty.
