Banks told to give loans to agricultural sector

Banks told to give loans to agricultural sector

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, June 19, 2015 : M. Kanagavalli, Chief Executive Officer, Udupi Zilla Panchayat, said on Thursday that banks should give advances to agricultural sector in rural areas. She was presiding over the quarterly meeting of the district-level review committee for banking here.

Ms. Kanagavalli said there was no point in banks opening branches in rural areas only to collect deposits. Instead of sitting in their cabins, the managers should go out and interact with farmers. The performance of banks in rural areas, especially with regard to rural credit offtake, left a lot to be desired, she said.

Reviewing the district credit plan for 2014-15, Prasad Rao, Assistant General Manager, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mangaluru, advised bankers to concentrate on lending more for the agriculture sector, particularly under term-lending. He also touched upon the area-based scheme for 2015-16 for which villages such as Mattu, Benegal and Kukkehalli had been selected.

Banks should take the help of non-governmental organisations and form joint liability groups. It would be possible for branch managers to form three to four such groups. The help of business correspondents could also be taken for the purpose, he said.

H.V. Bharmgoudar, regional manager of SyndicateBank, said banks had done well in enrolling customers under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) in the district. They had enrolled 1,08,814 customers under PMSBY and 53,577 customers under PMJJBY. As many as 58 persons had been enrolled under the Atal Pension Yojana till May 31.

The number of women financed by banks stood at 1.14 lakh with an outstanding amount of Rs. 1,190.9 crore, which was 14.51 per cent of the total advances as against the stipulated level of 5 per cent. Education loans of Rs. 52.45 crore had been provided to 3,751 students in the fourth quarter.

Under the Kisan Credit Card Scheme, there was an outstanding level of Rs. 276.24 crore covering 32,314 card holders. As many as 17,613 self-help groups had been credit-linked in the district with an outstanding loan amount of Rs. 314.32 crore, Mr. Bharmgoudar said.

 

Courtesy: The Hindu