Women’s organization demands loan write-off, staged protest in Guwahati

 STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: A women's organization named Jagrita Nari Shakti Samiti organized a protest at Chachal on Tuesday to demand relief from micro-finance loans, as promised by the state government.

Scores of members of the organisation organised a sit-in demonstration at the protest ground in Chachal and shouted slogans against the state government. The protest was led by the organization's secretary Manashi Rajkhowa and president Rashmirekha Doley.

A memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was also submitted by the leaders of the organization, through which they sought to remind the CM of his promise made prior to the elections that the government will help the women in getting relief from the loans taken by them from micro-finance companies, asking the CM to make good on his promise. They also pointed out that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had been signed between the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). According to the MoU, the government was to discuss the means to write off the loans to poor and needy women from the 38 micro- finance companies operating in the state. However, they alleged that nothing has resulted from the terms of the agreement.

Rajkhowa and Doley alleged that after coming to power, the BJP had forgotten its promise made to the needy women before the elections. They also complained that the Rs 25,000 relief paid to some of the beneficiaries had failed to benefit those who needed it most. They also alleged that agents of the finance companies were regularly issuing notice to the women and harassing them to pay off the loan amounts.

The women protestors also threatened that they would not exercise their franchise in the next elections if their problems were not sorted out by the present government.

The protestors demanded that the debts owed by them to the micro- finance companies should be written off and that No Objection Certificates (NOC) issued to them from the companies concerned.

It was also a demand of the protestors that the government keep a check on price rise so that the prices of essential items could remain affordable to them.

Also Read;    Several organisations protest at Chachal in Guwahati city

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