SBI's Support For SHG Education Expense
State Bank of India will partly support the educational expense of Self-Help Group (SHG) women who wish to pursue courses in the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.According to G. Selvaraj, Director, ODL, TNAU is offering certificate courses on 21 topics to promote the establishment of various enterprises in agricultural and related fields. A fee of Rs. 1,500 is collected from participants.
A special drive to initiate SHG women to enrol in the ODL courses was taken up by the university. In order to support them financially, the university approached the State Bank of India to contribute Rs. 1,000 towards fee. The remaining was to be paid by the participants.Now, SBI has agreed to support the education of 200 SHG women from Coimbatore and Madurai incurring Rs. 2 lakh.Mr. Selvaraj added that two programmes that would benefit the women the most had been identified.
The programmes were on preservation of fruits and vegetables, and preparation of bakery and confectionery products.The enrolment for the courses would be held this month. The Director said that more SHGs could be made to take up the courses if other banks and institutes would lend a helping hand in supporting their education.
