Consider the following statements about Nandini Sahakar Scheme : 1. This scheme is aimed at assisting women cooperatives to take up business model based activities under the purview of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC). 2. There is no minimum or maximum limit on financial assistance. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Correct — C, Both 1 and 2. Nandini Sahakar is the National Cooperative Development Corporation's women-focused framework of financial assistance, project formulation, hand-holding and capacity development. The Corporation's own scheme document describes it as "aimed at assisting women cooperatives take up business model based activities in any sector, except urban housing", which is statement 1 almost word for word. The same document goes on to say that "there is no minimum or maximum limit on financial assistance to projects by women cooperatives", and repeats the point for project cost, so statement 2 is correct as well. What the scheme does fix is eligibility — the borrower must be a registered women's cooperative or a cooperative with at least half its members women — and the interest subvention, which is two per cent on the term loan for new and innovative activities and one per cent for the rest.

• (a)1 only — Drops statement 2, but the absence of a floor or ceiling on assistance is stated explicitly in the scheme document, and it is one of the scheme's selling points.
• (b)2 only — Drops statement 1, which is close to a quotation from the scheme's own description of its purpose.
• (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Rejects both. That would require the scheme to be neither aimed at women cooperatives nor open-ended in its assistance, and it is both.

The National Cooperative Development Corporation is a statutory body under the Ministry of Cooperation that lends to cooperatives for production, processing, marketing, storage and allied activities. Nandini Sahakar is its women-specific framework: rather than a fixed outlay scheme, it packages term loans, working capital and composite loans with project formulation support, capacity building and an interest subvention, and it leaves both the project size and the assistance amount open so that a viable proposal is not capped. Sample detailed project reports and an online application route are provided so that small cooperatives can use it.

The instinct on a statement like 'there is no minimum or maximum limit' is to reject it, because most credit schemes do carry ceilings and examiners often insert an absolute claim to be knocked down. That instinct is wrong here, and the reason is worth carrying: a framework of assistance is not the same as a subsidy scheme. Where the money is a loan to be repaid and the appraisal is project-by-project, there is no policy reason to cap it, and NCDC says so in terms. When you meet an absolute statement, ask whether the instrument is a grant or a loan before rejecting it.

• Nandini Sahakar is a National Cooperative Development Corporation framework for women cooperatives.
• It covers business model based activities in any sector except urban housing.
• The scheme sets no minimum or maximum limit on financial assistance or on project cost.
• Eligibility requires a registered women's cooperative, or a cooperative with at least fifty per cent women members.
• Interest subvention is two per cent on the term loan portion for new and innovative activities and one per cent for others.

• Rejecting an absolute claim reflexively without asking whether the instrument is a loan or a grant.
• Assuming every centrally supported scheme carries a fixed outlay and a ceiling.
• Confusing NCDC lending with NABARD refinance, which works through a different channel.

Asked as a two-statement code item where the second statement makes an absolute claim that happens to be exactly what the scheme document says.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Nandini Sahakar is a scheme of which organisation?

  • (a)National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
  • (b)National Cooperative Development Corporation
  • (c)Small Industries Development Bank of India
  • (d)National Commission for Women

  Answer(b) National Cooperative Development Corporation — its women-focused framework of assistance.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under Nandini Sahakar, a cooperative qualifies as a women's cooperative if women make up at least

  • (a)twenty-five per cent of members
  • (b)thirty-three per cent of members
  • (c)fifty per cent of members
  • (d)seventy-five per cent of members

  Answer(c) fifty per cent of members — besides societies registered as women's cooperatives outright.