Bhopal:
In Madhya Pradesh, the story of government welfare schemes appears split into two halves. On one side are numbers that claim success, and on the other, the same numbers reveal a crisis. The latest report released by the State Level Bankers’ Committee says the pace of lending has accelerated but the ability to recover that money is steadily weakening.
However, Ladli Behna emerges as the strongest link in this matter. At a time when large government programmes are faltering, rural women’s self-help groups are quietly setting an example. They have taken loans worth Rs 3,570 crore, yet their non-performing assets (NPA) stands at just 2.4 per cent. This is not just good statistics; it is a statement. It shows that discipline, accountability, and financial responsibility still exist, even when the larger system struggles.
In sharp contrast, the situation elsewhere is deeply worrying. The Chief Minister Rural Housing Mission launched to provide homes to the poor has become one of the biggest risks for banks. Out of Rs 1,670 crore disbursed under the scheme, 67.9 per cent has turned into NPAs. In simple terms, nearly Rs 68 out of every Rs 100 lent is not coming back. Five years ago, this figure stood at 46 per cent. It has climbed to nearly 68 per cent, indicating a crisis that has been steadily building.
The picture is no better for self-employment schemes. The Chief Minister Udyam Kranti Yojana and other self-employment initiatives may boast a 127 per cent achievement rate on paper, but the ground reality tells a different story.
Of loans worth Rs 422 crore around 42.9 per cent have already turned into bad debts. Taken together, these schemes account for nearly Rs 2,100 crore in NPAs, putting increasing pressure on the banking system.
Banks find themselves trapped. Due to agreements signed with the government, they are unable to close these accounts or even offer one-time settlements. The money is stuck, and the avenues for recovery are limited.
Perhaps the most concerning aspect of this entire scenario is that the very sections these schemes were meant to benefit are still not fully integrated into the system. Schemes designed for denotified, nomadic, and semi-nomadic tribes have achieved only 11.8 per cent of their targets. Under the Tantya Mama scheme, just 2,743 applications have been approved against a target of 5,000. This reflects a gap between intent and execution.
The imbalance becomes clearer when the distribution of bad loans across schemes is analysed. The Chief Minister Rural Housing Mission has an NPA rate of 67.9 per cent, CM Udyam Kranti and self-employment schemes stand at 42.9 per cent, Bhagwan Birsa Munda self-employment at 40 per cent, Pradhan Mantri Mudra loans at 12.1 per cent, Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme at 7.1 per cent, and PM SVANidhi at 5.2 per cent. In comparison, women-led self-help groups remain at just 2.4 per cent.
The same sense of discipline and trust is visible in financial inclusion efforts as well. Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, the number of bank accounts in the state has grown from 1.19 crore to 4.66 crore. These accounts now hold deposits worth Rs 18,318 crore, with the average balance rising from Rs 445 to Rs 3,931. Notably, 55 per cent of these accounts belong to women, reinforcing the role they play in maintaining financial stability.
At present, the burden of implementing these welfare schemes largely rests on public sector banks, which are performing far beyond their targets. In contrast, private sector banks have shown limited participation, leading to an uneven distribution of risk across the system.