Nabard seeks clarity on UP farmers' debt waiver

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has sought clarity from the Uttar Pradesh government on the latter’s farmers’ debt waiver scheme.

The scheme, which was part of the ruling Samajwadi Party’s election manifesto, is being worked out by the government.

Recently, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, interacting with media after presenting the state Budget for 2012-13, had said the scheme would cover farmers’ loan to the limit of Rs 50,000.

However, there are still certain aspects, wherein the banks would need clarity from the state government on the selection criteria of farmers, duration of credit etc.

Prakash Bakshi, Chairman, NABARD, met Yadav here on Wednesday and discussed agricultural and rural development projects.

According to sources, the issue of debt waiver and clarity on the scheme was on the agenda among others. Other topics included Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) of NABARD, warehousing/cold storage, weaver’s package, joint liability groups (JLG), revised Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) guidelines, improvement in Credit Deposit Ratio (CDR) and 25 unlicensed District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCB).

During his two-day visit, Bakshi stressed the efforts to increase per acre farm credit to Rs 20,000 per hectare level from the current level of Rs 11,000 in UP with the help of JLG model for covering small and marginal farmers with institutional credit. Earlier, he also interacted with members of the State Level Bankers’ Committee and senior bankers.

He advised banks to support creation of infrastructural facilities including warehousing, technology up-gradation for existing cold storages for providing services to dairy and poultry units.

The low CDR in UP has been a cause of concern, especially with regional rural banks (RRB), wherein it is lower than their investment deposit ratios.

Meanwhile, NABARD has invited banks to employ primary agriculture cooperative societies as business correspondent and facilitators. Banks expressed security concerns, especially in rural/semi urban branches.