E-Paper
CM Fadnavis raps banks for poor loan waiver disbursal to farmers in Maharashtra
Fadnavis has also asked banks to draw up an effective way to give out crop loans for the new kharif season
Miffed at nationalised and commercial banks over their lack of cooperation in disbursing loan waiver amounts to the state’s farmers, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ticked off bank representatives at a meeting on Thursday.
Fadnavis warned all banks to pull up their socks, sort out the disbursements, and draw up an effective plan to hand out crop loans for the new kharif season.
Referring to complaints received by the state government about lack of cooperation from banks, the CM accused financial institutions of being indifferent. “The banks have not bothered to inform farmers about the amount credited to their accounts as part of the waiver benefits,” Fadnavis said during the meeting of the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC), which represents all types of banks, at Sahyadri guesthouse in Mumbai. “Also, many farmers don’t know about their eligibility for new farm loans as their outstanding loans have been cleared. And some banks have levied interest on the outstanding anount despite specific directives not to do so after the announcement of the loan waiver.”
The CM also expressed his dismay over poor disbursement of crop loans by banks. “Agricutlure is a priority sector for the government, and farmers should be treated as privilege customers by banks. Why are banks not being able to meet the target set for crop loans? They need to take proactive measures, such as hold loan melas, to reach out to needy farmers and achieve their loan targets,” Fadnavis suggested.
At the meeting, a ₹5.79 lakh crore credit policy was approved. Of the allocation, the agricultural sector will get ₹85,464 crore, a 10% rise compared to last year’s allocation. Of this, ₹58,319 crore is meant for crop loans, while ₹27,145 crore is for investment loans.
So far, the state has disbursed loan waiver worth over ₹14,000 crore to around 37 lakh farmers by depositing the amount they are eligible for into their bank accounts.
