Fact Check: Do Women make up for more than 70% beneficiaries of Mudra loans?﻿
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 1, 2019
In this article, we fact check some numbers
related to the MUDRA scheme and the Stand Up India scheme.
The government made certain claims about its commitment to social justice in an infographic titled ‘promoting entrepreneurship for socio-economic empowerment’. The following article is a fact check of the data provided in the infographic.
What is the MUDRA
scheme?
Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) is a scheme launched by the PrimeMinister in April 2015 for providing loans up to Rs. 10 lakh to thenon-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises. These loans are classified asMUDRA loans under PMMY. These loans are given by Commercial Banks, RRBs, SmallFinance Banks, Cooperative Banks, MFIs and NBFCs. The borrower can approach anyof the lending institutions mentioned above or can apply online through theportal.
However, ithas to noted that the focus on the MSME sector is not a new phenomenon. Thefirst NDA government launched the Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for MSMEs inAugust 2000 to provide guarantee cover for collateral free credit facilitiesextended to micro and small enterprises (MSEs). During the UPA, the Governmenthad constituted a Prime Minister’s Task Force on Micro, Small & MediumEnterprises (MSME) in September
2009, which submitted its report in January 2010. The report hadmade recommendations in the areas of credit, marketing, labour issues,rehabilitation and exit policy, infrastructure/technology/skill development,taxation and special measures for North-Eastern Region and Jammu & Kashmir.
Among other things, the recommendations of thetask force also include advice to the banks to achieve a 20% year-on-yeargrowth in credit to MSEs and a 10% annual growth in the number of microenterprise accounts.  The banks have also been advised that the allocationof 60% of the MSE advances to the micro enterprises is to be achieved in stagesviz., 50 per cent in the year 2010-11, 55 per cent in the year 2011-12 and 60per cent in the year 2012-13. Many other steps were also recommended and some were implemented during the previousgovernment. PMMY being implemented by the current government is a dedicatedscheme for MSEs that led to the establishment of Micro Units Development &Refinance Agency Ltd (MUDRA). MUDRA bank is essentially a refinancinginstitution and does not directly lend loans to end customers. Rather, theloans are given by Commercial Banks, RRBs, Small Finance Banks, CooperativeBanks, MFIs and NBFCs.
Has the lending target
under MUDRA scheme been increased?
The first claim is that the lending target under the MUDRA scheme hasbeen enhanced to 3 lakh rupees for the financial year 2018-19. In Union Budget speech (2018-19), Arun Jaitley said ‘it is proposed to set a target of 3 lakh
crore for lending under MUDRA for 2018-19 after having successfully exceeded
the targets in all previous years’.
Claim: The lending target under the MUDRA scheme has been enhanced to 3 lakh rupees for the financial year 2018-19.
Fact: It is proposed to set a target of 3 lakh crore for lending under MUDRA for 2018-19. Hence, the claim is TRUE.
What is the
demographic division of MUDRA account loans?
The secondrelated claim is that ‘of the total loan accounts (under the MUDRA scheme),
76% are of women and over 50% are SCs, STs and OBCs’.
The PMMY website has year wise performance reports on thewebsite. Data from these reports suggests that out of a total of 12.27 croreloan accounts under the MUDRA scheme between 2015-16 and 2017-18, 9.03 crorebelong to women entrepreneurs and 6.71 crore belong to SCs/STs/OBCs. Hence thepercentage of loan accounts belonging to women is around 74% while thosebelonging to SCs/STs/OBCs is around 55%.
Claim: of the total loan accounts (under the MUDRA scheme), 76% are of women and over 50% are SCs, STs and OBCs.
Fact: Data from performance reports of PMMY suggests that out of a total of 12.27 crore loan accounts under the MUDRA scheme between 2015-16 and 2017-18, 9.03 crore belong to women entrepreneurs and 6.71 crore belong to SCs/STs/OBCs. Hence the percentage of loan accounts belonging to women is around 74% while those belonging to SCs/STs/OBCs is around 55%. Hence the claim is TRUE.  However, it has to be noted that focus on the MSE sector is not a new phenomenon.
What is the Stand-up India scheme?
Government of India launched the Stand Up India scheme in April 2016. Stand Up Indiascheme caters to promoting entrepreneurship amongst Women, SC & ST categoryi.e. those section of the population facing significant hurdles due to lack ofadvice/ mentorship as well as inadequate and delayed credit. The scheme intendsto leverage the institutional credit structure to reach out to these underservedsectors of the population in starting greenfield enterprise. It caters to bothready and trainee borrowers. The Scheme facilitates bank loans between Rs.10lakh and Rs.1 crore to at least one Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe borrowerand at least one Woman borrower per bank branch of Scheduled Commercial Banksfor setting up greenfield enterprises in trading, manufacturing and servicessector. 51% of the shareholdingand controlling stake has to be held by an SC/ST of woman entrepreneur in caseof a non-individual enterprise.
To extend collateralfree coverage, Government of India has set up the Credit Guarantee Fund forStand Up India (CGFSI). The scheme is built on the concept of providinghandholding support to those borrowers who might have a project in mind butlack the confidence and capability to start up. It also provides forconvergence with Central/State Government schemes. Applications under thescheme can also be made online. An online tracking system in thededicated Stand Up India portal is beingutilized.  As of December 2018, more than 68000 loans have been sanctioned under the scheme out of which53,284 are disbursed.
How many loans were
sanctioned under the Stand-up India scheme?
The thirdclaim is that, ‘under Stand up India
mission, 54,733 loans were sanctioned by the banks to SC, ST and women
borrowers (up to February 2018)’.
The annual report  (2017-18) of the Department of Financial Services,published in March 2018 puts this number at 50887. This data was till the 10 of January 2018 only. More updated data was provided in a Lok Sabha answer on the 9 March 2018 which statesthat ‘loans extended as on 04.03.2018 since inception of the scheme is 54,947’.
Claim: Under Stand up India mission, 54,733 loans were sanctioned by the banks to SC, ST and women borrowers (up to February 2018).
Fact: Up to the 9 March 2018, the loans extended under the Stand-up India scheme are 54,947. The numbers are higher than the ones in the claim because of the dynamic nature of data collection. Hence, the claim is TRUE.
How much money was
sanctioned to SC entrepreneurs?
The fourthclaim related to the previous one is that, ‘under
the same scheme, 239.12 crores for SC entrepreneurs (up to May 2018)’.
According to an answer provided in Lok Sabha, a total of 9477 loanshave been sanctioned for SC entrepreneurs, while 7263 loans have been disbursedas of December 2018. The annual report (2017-18) of the Department ofFinancial Services shows that Rs, 1344.7 crore rupees have been sanctioned toSCs under 7086 accounts, by January of 2018. It is not known as to what part ofthe sanctioned amount is disbursed.
Claim: Under the Stand-up India scheme, 239.12 crores for SC entrepreneurs (up to May 2018).
Fact: Up until January of 2018, Rs. 1,344.7 crore rupees have been sanctioned for SC entrepreneurs. It is not known as to what part of the sanctioned amount is disbursed. Hence, the claim remains UNVERIFIED.
Is a new venture
capital fund for OBCs launched?
The finalclaim, also related to the previous two is that, ‘a new venture capital fund for OBCs is to be launched with an initial
corpus of 200 crore rupees’.
A new venture capital fund for OBCs was announced in the 2018-19 budget, but noallocation was made. Budget allocations were made in the 2019-20 budget for such a fund, but there is no evidence ofthe fund being launched.
Claim: A new venture capital fund for OBCs is to be launched with an initial corpus of 200 crore rupees, under the Stand-up India scheme.
Fact: A new venture capital fund for OBCs was announced in the 2018-19 budget, but no allocation was made. Budget allocations were made in the 2019-20 budget for such a fund, but there is no evidence of the fund being launched.  Hence this claim remains UNVERIFIED.
This story is part of a larger series on the 4-years of the Modi government. This series has been made possible with the flash grant of the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN). Read the rest of the stories in this series here