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The Kolkata Metropolitan Area being a
primate metropolis in eastern India, with a population load of around 10
million as per 1981 Census, did realise the need for income and employment
generation for Sustenance of the infrastructural development activities,
especially in low-income settlements.
KMDA designed the Small Scale Enterprises Programme to generate income and
employment among slum-dwellers. The basic aim was to provide access to
banking system for obtaining credit at reasonable terms. It was observed
that with credit and support to slum-dwellers, the level of economic
activities within the slums could be upgraded. This moderately large project
was undertaken under Kolkata Urban Development Programme - III. The project
addressed about 42,600 families.
The extension services outfit of KMDA helped identify prospective
entrepreneurs from among the slum-dwellers, helping them carry out the
formalities for bank credit. The project has had a tremendous impact in
terms of creating a class of entrepreneurs among the poorer section of
society, and in raising the level of family income of the project
beneficiaries. New employment was also generated due to the enhanced
economic activities.
Employment
Generation : Small Scale Enterprises Programme
 In
order to strengthen and sustain the improvement activities in slums, Kolkata
Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) designed the Small Scale
Enterprises Programme (SSEP) to generate income and employment among
slum-dwellers.
The extension services outfit of KMDA provided the entrepreneurs from the
slums with information about bankable schemes, credit options etc. The
interest subsidies like DRI rate of 4 % for a single loan averaging Rs
2,000, was extended to the small borrowers and secured an encouraging
response. The KMDA had also extended interest subsidy up to 4.25 % to
B-category borrowers for timely repayment of loan.
 The SSEP
has been a great success. Between 1983 and 1989, a total of 44,321 cases
were sanctioned for loans. The percentage distribution of loan recipients
for the three categories of families, viz. A, B and C, has been 31 %, 62 %
and 7 %respectively, as against the preset target of 27 %, 47 % and 26 %.
This implied that the programme had catered more to small and middle-income
group families rather than to high-income ones.
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