The Hindu : Business : SBT extends Bhavansree Scheme to 27 panchayats

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 13, 2005

Business

Business

SBT extends Bhavansree Scheme to 27 panchayats

Staff Reporter

Bank disbursed Rs.5.36 crores under the scheme; more than 1,300 houses built

KANNUR: The Bhavansree Scheme launched last year by the State Bank of Travancore (SBT), initially in the Mangattidam grama panchayat with the objective of financing Kudumbasree units for constructing houses for their members, has become a success story in micro housing as the bank has now extended the scheme to 27 panchayats, including 23 in Kannur and four in Kasaragod.

The scheme was inaugurated in the Mangattidam panchayat in July 2004 by sanctioning 75 housing loans through the Mattannur branch. As the scheme became popular, 103 more beneficiaries had been assisted and more panchayats in the Kannur and Kasaragod districts covered under it.

A total 1,345 houses had been constructed under the scheme including 1,061 in Kannur and 284 in Kasaragod, C.V. Haridas, Assistant General Manager, SBT Regional Office here, said on Friday. The bank had so far disbursed Rs.5.36 crores under the Bhavansree Scheme, including Rs. 4.24 crores in Kannur and Rs.1.08 crore in Kasaragod.

Swaraj Trophy

The Mangattidam panchayat had won the Swaraj Trophy for the best panchayat during 2003-04. Among the factors assessed for the selection for beneficiaries, the progress of works under the Bhavansree Scheme was considered an important one. SBT managing director Om Bhat will hand over the keys of the completed houses at the panchayat to the beneficiaries at a function to be held at Nirmalagiri College in Koothuparamba on November 6, Mr. Haridas said.

The Mangattidam panchayat has the largest number of beneficiaries - 178 - followed by Keezhur-Chavassery panchayat with 116 beneficiaries and Kodom-Belur panchayat in Kasaragod with 103 beneficiaries. Following the launching of the Bhavansree Scheme, the SBT adopted the Mangattidam panchayat with the objective of meeting the credit needs of individuals and micro units formed by Kudumbasree units in agriculture, industry, trade and service sectors, Mr. Haridas said. Mr. Haridas said that the beneficiaries of the housing scheme had been covered by the home loan insurance policy of the SBI Life Insurance company.

Under the Bhavansree Scheme, housing loan had been sanctioned to the Kudumbasree members who possessed 1.5 cent of land with clear title. Each member would get a maximum of Rs.40,000 for the construction of a house. The beneficiary could repay the loan in weekly instalments at the rate of Rs.75 to Rs.100 along with their thrift amount to the Kudumbasree unit, which in turn would remit the amount to the panchayat level community development society (CDS) and the CDS would make period payments of the loan. The CDS monitoring included mobilisation of materials, arranging labour and timely completion of various stages of construction of houses.

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