Budget proposal to expand Nabard re-finance scheme an ill-

Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra government's farm panel chief Kishore Tiwari on Monday took a dim view of the Budgetary proposal to expand the Nabard re-finance scheme to cover NBFCs and the cooperatives sector, which he said will "bypass" the RBI-regulated state-run banks.

Tiwari also said the Central government setting the agri credit target at Rs 15 lakh crore for FY21 is like "another scam".

In her second Budget presentation on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that Nabard refinance scheme will be expanded.

"The agricultural credit target ofRs 15 lakh crore is another scam," Tiwari said.

"The attempt of the Non-banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) to usethe National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) for providing funding to all agri-related activities and for rural development by ignoring state-run banks is an ill-motivated move by the finance minister, as NBFCs are privately-owned and controlled by corrupt politicians," he said in a statement.

He also termed as an "eyewash" the finance minister's 16-point action plan for the agriculture sector in the Budget 2020-21.

"Issues such as the minimum support price (MSP) for cotton and soybean, new crop loans, new technology, financial assistance for farm widows and higher education for their wards were not addressed in the Budget," he stated.