Rashtriya Mahila Kosh

Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) is an apex microfinance institution formed in 1993 under the auspices of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD). The major goal of RMK’s establishment was to provide low-interest microcredit to impoverished women for a variety of livelihood and income-generating activities in a client-friendly manner in order to help them achieve socio-economic development.

Rashtriya Mahila Kosh eligibility

• Eligibility Requirements

The eligibility criteria for lending schemes remain the same as they were previously.

The organisation must submit a thorough project plan that is both fiscally and technically feasible and meets the organization’s social aims and obligations.

The borrower organisation must have taken out a loan via the RMK/ SIDBI/ NABARD/ Commercial Banks/Other Financial Institutions micro-credit scheme and repaid it according to the repayment schedule.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development’s RashtriyaMahilaKosh (RMK) is an autonomous institution (MWCD).

It is an apex microfinance organisation and a society registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860.

The major goal of RMK’s establishment was to provide low-interest microcredit to impoverished women for a variety of livelihood and income-generating activities in a client-friendly manner in order to help them achieve socio-economic development.

Following an assessment of the RMK’s operations in 2014-2015, the government has taken the following steps to overhaul the RMK:

• I Loan Procedures Simplification

ii) Interest Rate Revision Downward

MWCD released Mahila E-haat in March of 2016.

important features of Rashtriya Mahila kosh programme

Objectives

Rashtriya Mahila Kosh seeks to achieve the following goals:

To achieve socio economic growth using a multifaceted approach.

To make microcredit available.

To assist IMOs and women beneficiaries in developing their capability.

To encourage or participate in actions that promote or provide credit as a tool for socio-economic change and development. This will be accomplished by offering a combination of financial and social development services to women.

To promote and support programmes aimed at expanding the range of loan facilities available to women, as well as sustaining and producing additional employment, asset development, asset redemption, and addressing consumer, social, and contingent requirements.

Demonstrate and replicate participative ways in the creation of women’s groups for optimal credit resource usage that leads to self-sufficiency.

Experiments in the volunteer and formal sectors using innovative technology to offer finance and other social services to women are encouraged and supported.

To improve the visibility of disadvantaged women as essential and viable customers with traditional institutions by raising awareness of current government delivery channels.

The Kosh’s Functions

For the sake of achieving its goals, the Kosh performs the following functions:

Providing services for integrated development that are concerned with the needs of underprivileged women in order to enable women to attain economic independence.

Credit for composite requirements is linked to manufacturing and economic activity.

The creation of an environment that encourages and supports the development and testing of new delivery systems.

To promote research with the primary goal of researching and performing participatory action research and analysis, with the goal of identifying and advocating policy imperatives and measures to solve the formal system’s restrictions.

Integrating credit provision with credit management education, as well as providing literacy and skill training for individual women, group leadership training for self-management, and so on.

Improving impoverished women’s access to credit facilities in terms of physical distance, procedural simplicity, loan and recovery flexibility, and other measures favourable to increased use, etc.

Rashtriya Mahila Kosh schemes

(1) The Loan Promotion Program

This programme provides loans to new and smaller businesses having at least six months of thrift and credit history. A maximum loan of Rs. 10 lakhs is available to the organisation.

(2)Main Loan Program

This programme provides loans to organisations with at least three years of expertise in thrift and credit operations. A maximum loan of 2 crores can be obtained by the organisation for a single state. A company can take out a loan under the plan for a maximum of three states at a time. The maximum loan amount might be up to Rs.6 crores if the organisation takes out a loan for more than one state.

(3)Gold Credit Program

This programme provides large-scale financing to medium and large non-governmental organisations. This programme is for organisations who have previously borrowed money from RMK and have not failed on their payments. A maximum loan of Rs 5 crores is available to the organisation.

(4) The Housing Loan Program

This plan provides loans to women who are members of Self Help Groups/ Joint Liability Groups for the building, repair, and upkeep of their homes (JLGs). This loan is given by IMOs, NGOs, and VOs. For the building of low-cost housing, the organisation can get a maximum loan of Rs 1,00,000/- per beneficiary.

Conclusion:

The Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) is an apex microfinance organisation that was established in 1993 under the Ministry of Women and Child Development’s aegis (MWCD). The main purpose of RMK’s founding was to help underprivileged women achieve socioeconomic development by providing low-interest microcredit for a range of livelihood and income-generating activities in a client-friendly way. Rashtriya Mahila Kosh was established as a one-stop shop for financial services, including backward and forward linkages, for women in the unorganised sector, through Intermediary Micro Finance Organizations (IMOs) and Women Self Help Groups (WSHGs).