KADAPA: District Collectors have been empowered to sanction loans of Rs. 5 lakhs each to Dalits to enable them to set up industrial units, Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Caste Cooperative Finance Corporation Chairman R.D. Wilson said on Tuesday.

National Scheduled Caste Finance Development Corporation has decided to accord priority to Dalits in setting up cyber cafes, Mr. Wilson told a press conference here. Dalits who underwent training in fashion technology, printing and dyeing and computer operations would be granted loans to promote units, he said. Dalits would also be motivated to set up soap, shampoo and papad-making units, Mr. Wilson stated. Andhra Pradesh State Finance Corporation had to mandatorily grant 16 per cent loans to SCs but was yet to do so, he lamented. Similarly, AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation ought to have allotted lands to SCs, but no action was taken in this regard in the past, he stated.

Loans of Rs. 1 lakh each were being given to migrant groups with a subsidy of Rs. 25,000, he said. Ten Dalits constituting a group would be granted loan of Rs. 1 lakh for setting up tanning units. Twenty thousand cobblers, trained in the past, would be granted individual loans of Rs. 35,000 each, he said. Cattle skins worth Rs. 1,000 crores were being transported from the State for sale in Tamil Nadu. Footwear sales in Vijayawada alone touched the Rs. 250-crore mark, he said.

Mr. Wilson said he was touring the State under Dalit Chaitanya Yatras since February last year to create awareness among Dalits on the corporation's endeavour to uplift them. The corporation recovered loan arrears of Rs. 10 crores this year, as against recovery of Rs. 10 crores since the corporation's inception in 1974, its chairman said. All the corporation offices were linked online for easy data transfer and ensuring transparency.

Under land purchase scheme, details of beneficiaries, units grounded and relevant documentation were recorded online, he said.

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