Maharashtra misses farm loan disbursal target

Procedural delays resulted in farmers from Maharashtra getting loans amounting to only around Rs 2,000 crore as against the target of Rs 6,000 crore during the ongoing kharif season.

Ironically, it was suicides of farmers from Vidarbha which led to national hue and cry and resulted in announcement of loan waiver scheme by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

The delay by the central government in coming out with the guidelines on loan waiver and how it is going to compensate banks for the same resulted in a large number of farmers not getting the loans despite becoming eligible for getting fresh loans under the loan waiver scheme.

This happened due to the severe cash crunch faced by both cooperative and nationalised banks during the May-June period, pointed out a senior official from the cooperatives ministry of the Maharashtra government.

About 500,000 farmers were given loans worth around Rs 1,000 crore through the network of cooperative banks, while 250,000 farmers were given loans worth Rs 1,000 crore. In 2006-07, crop loans worth Rs 2,033 were disbursed, the official added.

In 2005-06, about 450,000 farmers received loans worth around Rs 750 crore, the official pointed out.

“Had the central government come out with guidelines immediately after the scheme announcement, we could have reached the target of Rs 6,000 crore,” the official lamented.