Jowai, May 09: The noble laureate Muhamad Yunus was once asked how was he able to make people with zero saving capacity to save? Yunus the founder of the famous micro finance called Grameen Bank answered but zero is infinite. The same story was shared with the villagers in Phlonginkhaw but the people were resolute in their perception that they do not have the capacity to save. This was found out at the financial literacy campaign organized by the Society of Urban and Rural Empowerment, Jaintia hills in collaboration with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development which was held recently at the village dorbar hall.
Phlonginkhaw a village with about 130 household is less than 20 KM from Jowai the district headquarter of West Jaintia Hills and the village has also been part of the Jowai legislative constituency since the same was created, but people in the village remain poor and live on hand to mouth. Majority of the people are farmers and the small hamlet is bereft of any concrete building except for the community hall.
Preliminary survey which was conducted as per Reserve Bank of India directive found that only 13 percent of the residents in the village have bank accounts. Tarly Tariang the headman of the villager clarified that even those who have bank accounts did so because it is mandatory for the head of the family to open a bank account so that 100 days wage from MNREGA is credited direct to his or her account. Tariang also said that other than those who have job card very few people in the village have account in the bank.
During the interaction session after the campaign it was mostly women who spoken categorically stated that it is not possible for them to save. Blian Mukhim said that they can barely meet their end meet, how can we expect them to save? Dri Suting another resident from the village said that whatever little they earn from their farm they spend it on food, clothing and the little education that they can provide for their kids. Priana Mukhim another farmer complained that agriculture can barely meet their daily needs and they tried their hand in piggery farming but unfortunately their venture does not yield any profit because very often than not the animal died.
Teidor Thangkhiew District Development Manager of the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development informed the farmers present about the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) in which every genuine farmer can avail up to one lakh rupees loan. K. Kharmalki branch manager of Meghalaya Rural Bank, Wahiajer Branch impressed on the villagers to try save as little as they can and make saving money in the bank a habit. She also informed the villagers that now they can open no frills account in any bank. H.H.Mohrmen president of the society warned against the fraud financial institutions which come to lure poor famers with fast benefit, he also warned against hoax messages and emails which uses many tricks to entice people.(SP News)
