Maha farmers to get loans through state co-op bank

In a bid to ease hardships of farmers in seven districts of the state, the Maharashtra government has decided to step in and provide Rs 578 crore through the state co-operative bank since the RBI has passed strictures against the district co-operative banks.

State Co-operation Minister Harshvardhan Patil told the Legislative Assembly on Monday during a debate on the issue through a calling attention notice that Rs 578 crore will be disbursed to the farmers in a week's time since district co-operative banks of Dhule and Nandurbar, Jalna, Osmanabad, Buldhana, Wardha and Nagpur have been barred from accepting deposits and disbursing loan by the RBI. Patil said Rs 841 crore out of Rs 1,354 crore allocated for crop loan have been disbursed to the farmers.