India

Maharashtra government to offer personal loans to prisoners

The jail inmates will be offered a loan at an interest rate of 7percent.

The Maharashtra government has decided to launch a scheme for jail inmates to secure personal loans with the goal to improve the living standard of the families of these prisoners and also to meet their legal expenses.

The pilot project will help inmates of Yerawada Central Jail in Pune through Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank with a loan of up to Rs 50,000 at an interest rate of 7%. Nearly 1055 inmates will be able to seek the benefits of this scheme as of now.

The loan will not need any guarantor and it will be exclusively on the prisoner’s guarantee. The amount of the loan will be decided on the basis of the prisoner’s loan limit, duration of punishment, possible relief from the punishment, age, estimated annual working days and minimum daily income.

Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil said, “Many prisoners are serving long-term sentences. Since most of these prisoners are prominent members of the family, the condition of their families becomes dire.” Patil further added, “A feeling in the family that the person who has gone to jail has failed in his family duties may develop. In such a situation, providing a loan to a prisoner for the needs of his family would help to increase the family’s sympathy and love for the prisoner and help maintain a healthy family atmosphere.”

This is the first scheme of its nature in the country where prisoners will be able to draw loans based on their incomes by working within the prison. In addition, 1 percent of the amount recovered every year will be diverted to the Prisoners Welfare Fund.

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