Extend necessary credit to farmers: Agriculture Minister

Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao has called upon banks to extend necessary credit facilities to the farming community in time and in sufficient quantity.

Farmers will repay their loans under any circumstances, he declared, addressing the 44th Foundation Day celebrations of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) organised by the bank’s Telangana Regional Office here on Tuesday. Appreciating the role of NABARD in improving the credit flow to the agriculture sector, the Minister also urged the banks to lend to agriculture or any other allied activity.

Noting that NABARD had played an excellent role in changing the banking sector, particularly the rural cooperative institutions and the regional rural banks, Mr. Rao sought bank support for provision of infrastructure to agriculture and horticulture universities in Telangana. He also recalled NABARD’s assistance for completion of 30 medium irrigation projects that were languishing for lack of budgetary allocation at that time.

Chief General Manager, NABARD, Telangana, B. Uday Bhaskar said as a development financial institution NABARD is into financial, development and supervisory roles. The bank supports various irrigation, connectivity and school projects under its Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) to the tune of ₹1,100 crore. He said NABARD has refinanced to the extent of ₹9,673 crore as refinance support for self help groups. It is also supporting focus on natural farming through its JIVA programme. The bank is also the National Implementing Agency for the Climate Change Fund and actively involved in policy framing and implementation of climate change-related projects in the country.

The CGM said NABARD has supported 23 rural haats with an assistance of ₹72.86 crore and 43 rural marts with ₹72.12 crore, conducted more than 200 skill development programmes benefiting over 4,500 rural youth and 25,000 SHG women in Telangana. NABARD has taken up the task of computerisation of PACS. He said RRB and cooperative banks in Telangana are ahead in computerisation of operations.

TGCAB president M. Ravindar Rao thanked NABARD for implementing innovative programmes at the grassroots level.

Registrar of Cooperative Societies Surendra Mohan told the gathering that the Telangana government accords top priority to rural development and development of women and farmers. NABARD has stood with the State government in modernising, revitalising and expanding the cooperative landscape. A total of 289 PACS in Telangana have been strengthened through refinance and infrastructure development, including the world’s largest grain storage project in Gambhiraopet PACS.

NAFSCOB Chairman K Ravinder and State Bank of Hyderabad, Hyderabad Circle, CGM Radhakrishnan spoke. A booklet on Unit Cost that works as a handbook for bankers to decide the credit for various agriculture and allied activities, a report on the Impact Evaluation Study on Farmer Producers Organisations and a booklet on a-IDEA of NAARM were released.