200,000 farmers have mobile banking account now: Cooperative Banks body

Around 213,000 farmers have activated mobile banking accounts and about 81,000 are now using e-wallets on their mobile phones across India, according to the National Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies.
 

"We believe by the end of December, another 50,000 farmers will be added to the mobile banking platform," said Subhash Gupta, chief executive of the Federation. The body represents around 1,600 urban cooperative banks and 50,000 cooperative credit societies across the country.

Cooperative banks, Nafed, Nabard, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) and other agriculture agencies and institutes have been organising farmers training camps across the country on cashless transactions, said a senior official of the department of agriculture in the central government. The data given earlier on the number of farmers getting access to cashless transactions are the department's estimate.

Nabard's deputy managing director, H R Dave, says their aim is to give RuPay cards to 34 million farmers. "Generally, farmers buy seeds, fertiliser, and other farming related things on cash or credit. By providing RuPay cards, they will also be able to go cashless soon," he said.