Cooperatives see decline in debt recovery

The recovery of outstanding farm loans in cooperative banks has dipped by up to 40 per cent after the introduction of the agriculture debt waiver scheme, the National Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank’s Federation (NCARDBF) said today.

“The recovery of loans taken by farmers from cooperative institutions in the country has come down by 25-40 per cent as farmers are now reluctant to pay back their dues after the launch of the farm debt waiver and debt relief scheme announced by the Centre last year,” NCARDBF Chairman K Sivadassan Nair said on the sidelines of a two-day conference being held here.

“Now farm loan seekers openly ask us to offer such loan which is not required to be repaid by them (farmers) as they think that government will again announce debt waiver scheme in future,” Nair said.

The federation is an umbrella body of state level cooperative and agricultural rural development banks of almost 24 states in the country and it takes care of the interest of its members through business development services and the like.