J&K govt committed to cover all farmers under KCC: CS

Jammu and Kashmir government today reiterated its commitment to cover all farmers in the state under the Kissan Credit Card (KCC) scheme, and directed the Agricultural Production department and banks to achieve the set targets.
"State government's priority is to achieve 100 per cent coverage of farmers under the Kissan Credit Card (KCC) scheme. We have directed that the state Agricultural Production Department in cooperation with banks should ensure that the set target is achieved at the earliest," Chief Secretary, Mohammad Iqbal Khandey, said at the 92nd meeting of the State Level Banker's Committee (SLBC) here.
He noted that although 7.22 lakh KCCs have already been handed over to the farmers till December 2013, it was necessary to achieve the target of covering 10.09 lakh farmer families as it benefitted the farming community.

The Chief Secretary also laid emphasis on improving the performance under Handicraft/Handloom/Artisan/Weaver Credit Card Scheme saying these sectors should receive special focus, and asked the banks to improve the credit disbursement under these schemes.
On the mediocre performance of the banks in achieving the Annual Credit Plan 2013-14 targets under the priority sector advances, the Chief Secretary said it indicated that banks in J&K were falling short in achieving the targets. It also indicated a sluggish interest in lending advances.
He called for better working relationship between government departments and financial institutions to address short falls.