Personal loans for prisoners: How Maha govt plans to help improve living standard of inmates families

New Delhi, Mar 30: With an aim to improve the standard of prisoners' families, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday launched a scheme which will give a loan to a prisoner's family without a guarantor. At the interest rate of seven per cent, the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank will give loans under the scheme up to Rs 50,000. Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil said that the scheme will be implemented on a pilot basis at Yerawada Central Jail, Pune.

"It will also be the first innovative loan scheme in the country to get a loan based on the income earned while working in a prison. With this, a welfare scheme can come in concrete form and approximately 1,055 prisoners can benefit from the scheme. Many inmates are serving long-term imprisonment. Since the majority of these inmates are prominent members of the family, their families may become distraught," Patil said after a meeting at Sahyadri Guest House.

"A feeling in the family that the person who has gone to jail has failed in his family duties. 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," added the minister.

Loan Limit

The bank will consider the prisoner's duration of punishment, possible relief from it, age, estimated annual working day and minimum daily income before approving the amount. The loan will not require a guarantor.

The Home Minister said that the loan will be given without collateral and only on a personal guarantee.

The lending bank will be solely responsible for ensuring that the loan amount is used to meet the needs of the family concerned or to pay the fees of their lawyers or for other legal matters. In addition, 1 per cent of the amount recovered by the bank from loan repayment will be given annually to the Prisoners' Welfare Fund, ANI reports.