OBJECTIVE

1. To promote economic and developmental activities for the benefit of "Backward Sections" amongst the Minorities, preference being given to the occupational groups and women;
2. To assist, subject to such income and/or economic criteria as may be prescribed by the Government from time to time, individuals or groups of individuals belonging to the Minorities by way of loans and advances for economically and financially viable schemes and projects; under micro-financing scheme, group of individuals belonging to the minorities will include such groups in which pre-dominantly (75% and above) members belongs to the Minority Community. In very exceptional cases this may include those groups also where upto 60% members belong to Minority Community provided other members belong to Weaker Sections including Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and disabled as per the EGM held on 01.11.1999 & CG approval vide letter 3/17/T-1/2000/D/8278 Dt. 09.02.2000;
3. To promote self-employment and other ventures for the benefits of Minorities;
4. To grant loans and advances at such rates of interest as may be determined from time to time in accordance with the guidelines or schemes prescribed by the Central Government or by the Reserve Bank of India;
5. To extend loans and advances to the eligible members belonging to the Minorities for pursuing general/professional/technical education or training at graduate and higher level;
6. To assist the up-gradation of technical and entrepreneurial skills of Minorities for proper and efficient management of production units;
7. To assist the State level organisations dealing with the development of the Minorities by way of providing financial assistance or equity contribution and in obtaining commercial funding or by way of refinancing;
8. To work as an apex institution for co-ordinating and monitoring the work of all corporations/boards/other bodies set up by the State Government/Union Territory Administrations for, or given the responsibility of assisting the minorities for their economic development and
9. To help in furthering the Government policies and programmes for the development of Minorities.

TARGET GROUPS

The TARGET GROUPS for NMDFC with regard to direct benefit are the persons belonging to the Minority Communities and living below DOUBLE the POVERTY LINE. Minority Communities as per the National Minorities Commission Act, 1992 are MUSLIMS, CHRISTIANS, SIKHS, BUDDHISTS and PARSIS. At present, families having “Annual Income” less-than Rs. 40,000/- in Rural Areas and Rs. 55,000/- in Urban Areas are categorized as BELOW DOUBLE THE POVERTY LINE.

SCHEMES & PROGRAMMES

LENDING SCHEMES

1) TERM LOAN SCHEME

(The Scheme is for individual beneficiaries and is implemented through the SCAs)

 Under the Term Loan Scheme, projects costing upto Rs. 5 lacs are considered. NMDFC provides loan to the extent of 85% of the project cost subject to a maximum of Rs. 4,25,000/-. The remaining cost of the project is met by the SCA and the beneficiary, however, the beneficiary has to contribute minimum 5% of the project cost. Rate of Interest charged from the beneficiaries is 6% p.a. on reducing balance.

Assistance under Term Loan Scheme is available for any commercially viable and technically feasible venture which for the sake of convenience has been into the following sectors:

1. Agriculture & Allied
2. Technical Trade
3. Small Business
4. Artisans & Traditional Occupation
5. Transport & Service Sector

An illustrative list of self employment projects grouped under the above referred sectors is given under the head “Illustrative List of Schemes”. The list is illustrative and not exhaustive.

2) MARGIN MONEY LOAN SCHEME
(The Scheme is for individual beneficiaries and is implemented through the SCAs)

 Margin Money assistance is provided to beneficiaries availing bank finance. Generally Public Sector Banks finance upto 60% of the project cost and seek 40% from the beneficiaries. Under Margin Money Loan Scheme, NMDFC provides loan to the eligible beneficiaries to meet the requirement of margin asked by the bankers. For this purpose, loan upto 25% of the project cost subject to a maximum of 1.25 lacs per unit is available. The SCA and the beneficiary are expected to contribute the remaining amount. Rate of Interest charged from the beneficiaries is 3% p.a. on reducing balance.

3) EDUCATIONAL LOAN SCHEME

(The Scheme is for individual beneficiaries and is implemented through the SCAs)

NMDFC has introduced the scheme of Educational Loans with the objectives to facilitate job-oriented education amongst the weaker sections of Minorities. The scheme envisages maximum loan of Rs. 2.5 lacs i.e., Rs. 50,000/- every year for pursuing professional and technical courses of duration not exceeding 5 years. Funds for this purpose are made available to the SCAs at interest of 1% for lending to the beneficiaries at 3%. The loan is repayable maximum in 5 years after the completion of the course.

4) MICRO FINANCING SCHEME
(The Scheme is for the members of the Self Help Groups and is implemented through the SCAs as well as NGOs)

 NMDFC launched the scheme of Micro Financing in 1998 on the pattern of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and Rashtriya Mahila Kosh under the Department of Women and Child Development in our own country. The scheme envisages micro credit to poorest among poor through selected NGOs of proven bonafide and their network of Self Help Groups. It is an informal loan scheme which ensures quick delivery of loan at the door steps of the beneficiaries with constant follow up. It also envisages a pre-requisite that the beneficiaries are first organized into Self Help Groups and get into the habit of effecting regular savings, however small. Under the scheme, loan upto a maximum of Rs. 25,000/- per beneficiary can be provided. The funds are made available to the NGOs at 1% interest p.a. who further lend to the SHGs at 5% interest p.a. The repayment period is maximum of 36 months.

5) INTEREST FREE LOAN FOR PROMOTION OF SHGs
(The Scheme is directly implemented by the NMDFC through the NGOs)

 Financial assistance in the form of Interest Free Loan is provided to the NGOs for promotion of Self Help Groups (SHGs). The maximum amount of loan available is Rs. 2.15 lakhs for promotion of 50 SHGs of about 1000 members. The loan is repayable after one year and is adjusted by way of grant at the rate of 25% of the loan advanced by the SHGs and 5% on their growth of savings (provided the growth in savings is alteast 10% over the last year).

6) MAHILA SAMRIDHI YOJANA

(The Scheme is implemented through NGOs as well as SCAs)

 Under Mahila Smaridhi Yojna, training is given to a group of around 20 women in any suitable craft activity. The group is formed into Self Help Group during the training itself and after the training, micro-credit is provided to the members of the SHGs formed. The maximum duration of the training is of 6 months with maximum training expenses of Rs. 500/- p.m. per trainee. During the training, a stipend of Rs. 250/- p.m. is also paid to the trainees. The training cost and stipend is met by NMDFC as grant. After the training, need based micro-credit (subject to maximum of Rs. 25,000/-) is made available to each member of the self help group so formed at interest rate of 4%.

7) MINORITIES CLUSTER DEVELOPEMENT PROGRAME

The Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India based on 2001 Census, has identified 338 towns in the country, having concentration of Minorities where the Socio Economic Indicators are far below the national average. These 338 towns (Clusters) are spread across 24 States. 

1. It order to reach out to a larger number of target groups with limited infrastructure and manpower available with the SCAs, NMDFC has decided to give focus on these Urban Concentration Towns as MINORITIES CLUSTERS for intensive development. Through cluster approach it is expected that a quantum jump in our reach to beneficiaries could be achieved.

2. To start with, during the year 2008-09, 40 clusters were identified & taken up for intensive and focused activities by NMDFC.  State-wise list of these clusters is enclosed herewith as Annexure-I. During 2009-10, another 38 clusters has also been identified out of the list of 338 towns and the list is enclosed herewith as Annexure-III.

3. This programme is to be organized by the concerned SCAs for which NMDFC would provide necessary support. The project period of each of the clusters will be for 3 years. The concerned SCAs are expected to organize at least the following activities in each cluster in their jurisdiction during 2009-10.

i. Awareness Camp                  

ii. Term Loan                                     

iii. Micro Financing                             

iv. Vocational Training                            

v. EDP Training                                  

vi. Mahila Samridhi Yojana                          

vii. A course in Computer Application        

The SCA would also have flexibility to consider financing under the other schemes of NMDFC viz. Margin Money Loans & Micro Credit through NGOs.

4. This programme would be in addition to the normal schemes available in these Minority Clusters concerned. The funds allocated to the SCAs would be disbursed under this programme, independent of pending issues under general programme, subject to availability of government guarantee.

5. The guidelines for implementation of the programme in brief for organizing each of the above activities are enclosed as Annexure-II.

PROMOTIONAL SCHEMES

1) VOCATIONAL TRAINING
(The Scheme is for individual beneficiaries and is implemented only through the SCAs)

 NMDFC has introduced a scheme of vocational training for persons belonging to the Minority communities to develop their skills and knowledge with a view to make them competent for wage  employment or self employment. Under this scheme, SCAs organize need based vocational training programmes in their States with the help of local recognized training institutions. Such programmes aregenerally of duration around six months. 85% of the cost of the training is met by NMDFC as grant  while remaining 15% of the cost is borne by the SCA. The SCAs are required to pose their proposal to NMDFC on prescribed format for approval and sanction of funds.

2 MARKETING ASSISTANCE TO CRAFT PERSONS

(The Scheme is for individual craft persons as well as Self Help Groups and is implemented through both  SCAs as well as NGOs)

 With a view to support the craft persons in market promotion and sale of their products at remunerative price,NMDFC welcomes proposals from SCAs as well as NGOs for organizing exhibition at selected locations. In  these exhibitions, handloom / handicraft precuts of Minority craft persons are exhibited and sold. Such exhibitions also serve the purpose  of “Buyer Seller Meet” which is considered very useful for product  development and market promotion for domestic consumption as well as exports. NMDFC provides grant for organizing exhibitions after due appraisal of the proposals.

3) ASSISTANCE FOR DESIGN DEVELOPMENT / SKILL UPGRADATION

(The Scheme is for the members of the Self Help Groups and is implemented through the SCAs as well as NGOs)

In this fast changing world, the people’s perception, likings and tastes are changing rapidly. Therefore, the handloom and handicraft items made by craft persons have to be latest in terms of design and aesthetics and competitive in terms of cost. Craft persons may require exposure to new designs and training to upgrade their skills to meet this challenge. NMDFC welcomes proposal from SCAs as well as NGOs for organizing design development / skill development training programme for the craft persons of Minority communities. After due appraisal, depending upon the merit of the proposals, NMDFC provides grant for organizing such programmes.

Category wise break up of training given under the Scheme