Mizoram Bana Kaih (Handholding) Scheme, 2024

What is the Mizoram Bana Kaih (Handholding) Scheme?

Mizoram Bana Kaih (Handholding) Scheme, 2024 is the flagship livelihood and entrepreneurship programme of the Government of Mizoram. The name is Mizo: bana kaih means leading someone by the arm, and the scheme is built around the idea that credit alone does not create a business; sustained guidance does. The Chief Minister launched it on 19 September 2024, and the guidelines for its first component were notified by the Planning & Programme Implementation Department on 2 September 2024 under notification No.A.48011/4/2024-PLG(RDB).

The first component of the scheme is Handholding Support to Progress Partners. A Progress Partner is defined in the guidelines as an individual or a group or organisation selected to receive comprehensive assistance aimed at fostering sustainable livelihoods and socio-economic advancement. The term is deliberate: it describes the relationship between the Government and the beneficiary as a partnership rather than a hand-out.

Key facts

• The Mizoram State Policy Coordination Committee (MSPCC), chaired by the Chief Minister, is the Apex Body.
• The Planning & Programme Implementation Department is the nodal department.
• Rs 200 crore was budgeted for FY 2024-25, the first year of a five-year initial implementation period.
• Applications are filed on the online Handholding Portal at handholding.mizoram.gov.in.
• All 11 districts of Mizoram are covered, and the Search Team of each department must cover every district.

Who is eligible to become a Progress Partner?

An individual can apply if he or she:

• Is an Indian citizen and a permanent resident of Mizoram.
• Is 18 years of age or above.
• Has a full-time feasible livelihood project or business plan setting out products or services and financial projections. The project must be the "usual principal activity" and the main source of livelihood.
• Has a project with potential to create direct and indirect employment, address community needs and promote sustainable economic development.
• Can demonstrate entrepreneurial potential to carry the project through.
• Is willing to undergo mandatory capacity-building training and apply what is taught.
• Agrees to prompt and timely repayment of any loan granted.
• Satisfies the eligibility conditions of the converged central scheme under which the support is claimed.

A non-individual can apply if it is:

• A primary producer organised into a group entity. A cooperative, registered society, SHG, FPO, PACS or similar body; or
• A partnership firm, LLP, private limited company or public limited company where the majority ownership lies with individuals who meet the individual conditions above.

You cannot apply if:

• You are a full-time employee under the Government, central or state, or of any of their agencies. Form-1 carries a specific note that serving government staff, including those engaged as provisional employees, cannot be given support.
• You are under 18 years of age.
• You are not a permanent resident of Mizoram.
• Your project is a side activity rather than your principal livelihood.

One more limit applies to those who do qualify: each unique Progress Partner, whether an individual or a single group entity, is recommended for support under one livelihood or business project only, though this does not bar benefits under other components of the scheme or membership of a group Progress Partner.

What support does Bana Kaih actually give?

1. Collateral-free and interest-free bank loan. The scheme provides credit linkage with credit guarantee and full interest subvention — repayment of 100 per cent of the interest: in convergence with central schemes and in collaboration with banks and financial institutions:

• Full interest subvention on interest payable on bank loans of up to Rs 50 lakh, by reimbursement, over and above any interest subvention claimable from the Central Government under the loan scheme, as an incentive for prompt repayment.
• MSME loans made collateral-free through the Government of Mizoram's contribution to the corpus of the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) for 100 per cent guarantee.
• Agriculture and allied sector loans made collateral-free through the state covering the credit guarantee fee.
• Convergence with PMEGP, PMMY, SUI, KCC and other agriculture and allied sector loans, and with RAMP for registration and monitoring.

These incentives are conditional on the loan being used as per the sanction conditions, and are available only to Progress Partners selected through the prescribed process.

2. Chief Minister's Special Package grant. A grant of not more than Rs 1 lakh in exceptional cases where the Progress Partner is not in a position to take a loan but has a livelihood project that a small grant can significantly boost. The amount is fixed on the basis of the DPR, transfers are made online in instalments approved by the Apex Body, and a grantee cannot avail the other incentives until the funded project is complete.

3. Capacity building. Orientation training organised centrally by the nodal department covers motivation, financial literacy, leadership and work ethics, and the certificate issued on completion is what formally certifies the entity as a Progress Partner. Technical training modules are designed by each implementing department.

4. Venture capital. The Government of Mizoram is creating the Mizoram Venture Capital Fund through the SEBI Alternative Investment Fund route, to give entrepreneurs equity investment for product development, scaling, market expansion and technology.

How to apply for the Bana Kaih Scheme online

1. Open the Handholding Portal at handholding.mizoram.gov.in, which the Commerce & Industries Department links from its Bana Kaih registration page.
2. Fill Form-1, the project application (Project Dilna). Enter your name and your father's or mother's name exactly as on your Voter ID, date of birth, your age on the date of application, education, whether you have done EDP or RSETI training, the number of family members in your household, your village or town, RD block, district, phone or WhatsApp number and Voter ID number.
3. Add the project details, sector or trade, project name, how you plan to run it, your experience, the land available with its size and owner, the equipment you hold with its value, the funds you need, how you will use them, expected annual income, wages you plan to pay and expected output. Group applicants also fill the organisation block with the type of entity, registration number and year, membership strength and the representative's name.
4. Upload the documents: Voter ID image, photograph, registration certificate if you are a group, and training certificate if you have one. A photograph of the project site is optional.
5. Sign the declaration (Intiamkamna), which commits you to using the money as per the plan, repaying on time, attending mandatory training and accepting government inspection, and records that applying does not guarantee funding.
6. Submit. The department is auto-assigned, though you may indicate a preferred department.

If the portal is down, the guidelines allow all necessary forms and documents to be submitted in hard and soft copy to the Nodal Department.

How to be selected offline through a Search Team

1. Wait for the Search Team of an implementing department to visit your area. Each department constitutes Search Teams to identify potential Progress Partners, and each team must cover all districts.
2. Present your livelihood project to the team. The team assists identified Progress Partners in submitting their projects through the online Handholding Portal.
3. Attend the Departmental Nodal Committee screening, which may include an interview. The committee checks eligibility, prepares a prioritised list, decides the form of financial assistance and approves the additional support components.
4. Prepare the DPR with the department's help, in the Form-2 indicative format, covering land availability and size, expected income and employment generation over five years, and non-loan handholding support.
5. The department submits the prioritised list in Form-3 through the portal to the Apex Body, along with the DPRs.

What happens after selection?

The Apex Body makes the final selection on the merit of the projects and the funds available, avoids duplication between departments, and communicates the list to the implementing departments, to the Finance Department for release of grants, and to the concerned bank.

The implementing department then handholds the selected Progress Partner to approach the bank with the required documentation. The bank does its own due diligence and conveys the list of accepted and rejected applications, with reasons for rejection, to the Apex Body before starting disbursement. Loan disbursement follows the bank's procedures and the rules of the converged scheme. Subscription to insurance such as PMJJBY is encouraged, loan recoveries may run through dedicated recovery accounts mapped to the banks' Cash Management Product, and interest subvention claims are governed by the MoU between the Government of Mizoram and the implementing banks.

A Supervisory Handholding Team in each department then supervises, guides, trains and monitors performance, reports online to the Apex Body in a prescribed monitoring format, and checks that the project is run as per the approved DPR. Deviation is allowed only in exceptional cases with the approval of the concerned Minister. The Apex Body may evaluate implementation every six months, and a "Rehabilitation Scheme" may be worked out to help non-performers overcome bottlenecks.

Why Bana Kaih applications get rejected

• The applicant is a full-time government employee, which Form-1 excludes outright.
• The project is not the applicant's principal livelihood, but a part-time or supplementary activity.
• The business plan lacks financial projections or shows no employment or community impact.
• Voter ID details do not match the name and parentage entered on Form-1.
• The group's registration certificate is missing for a cooperative, society, SHG, FPO, PACS or company applicant.
• The bank rejects the loan at due diligence even after selection. The bank's decision is separate from the Apex Body's selection.
• Duplication of support, where the same partner is already supported for the same project by another department. The Apex Body decides whether such a case is duplication or genuine complementarity.

Where do I get help or complain?

• Handholding Portal: https://handholding.mizoram.gov.in/
• Nodal department: Planning & Programme Implementation Department, Government of Mizoram, Aizawl, which provides secretarial services to the Apex Body.
• Departmental Nodal Officer: each implementing department assigns a Nodal Officer as the single point of contact for the scheme.
• District and block level offices of the implementing departments, and the District Commerce & Industries Officers in all 11 districts.
• Public Grievance Portal: https://pgportal.gov.in/, linked by the Commerce & Industries Department.

Applying under Bana Kaih is free. No fee is prescribed for registering on the Handholding Portal or for being considered by a Search Team, and no agent can promise selection, which rests with the Departmental Nodal Committee and the Apex Body.