PM-SURAJ Scheme:
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment launched the ‘Pradhan Mantri Samajik Utthan and Rozgar Adharit Jankalyan’ (PM-SURAJ) national portal online aimed at offering credit support to the marginalized segments of society, with the Prime Minister as the Chief Guest.
- The PM distributed Ayushman Health Cards and Personal Protective Equipment to Safai Mitras(sewer and septic tank workers), under the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) scheme, which was previously a rehabilitation scheme for manual scavengers.
- The ‘PM-SURAJ’ national portal aims to uplift the most marginalized sections of society and provide credit assistance to one lakh entrepreneurs from disadvantaged communities.
- It is implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and its departments.
- The portal serves as a one-stop point where people from disadvantaged sections of society can apply for and monitor the progress of all loan and credit schemes already available to them.
- The credit support will be facilitated through banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies Finance Institutions (NBFC-MFIs), and other organizations, ensuring accessibility across the country.
- An NBFC MFI is a non-deposit taking NBFC with a minimum Net Owned Funds (NOF) of Rs. 5 crore (Rs. 2 crore for those registered in the North Eastern Region of the country) and having at least 85% of its net assets as “qualifying assets (intended use or sale)”.
