The Hindu : National : States' cooperation sought for rural credit package

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 22, 2004

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National

States' cooperation sought for rural credit package

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JUNE 21. The Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, has sought the cooperation of the States to implement the rural credit package announced last Friday and has suggested that Chief Ministers finalise operational targets before June 30.

In a letter to the Chief Ministers, Mr. Chidambaram said the main task in implementing the credit package would have to be undertaken at the State, district and lower levels. He urged the Chief Ministers to finalise operational targets in consultation with local offices of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), commercial banks and with State and district-level Bankers' Committees.

He sought the Chief Ministers' assistance in formulating new bankable investment projects such as plantation, horticulture, fisheries, organic farming, agro-processing and other agricultural activities in the jurisdiction of each rural and semi-urban branch of commercial banks.

Cooperation has also been sought for furnishing necessary certificates or documents to tenant farmers, oral lessees and sharecroppers to enable them to access institutional credit and for providing information requested by banks for purposes of debt relief.

The Chief Ministers have been asked to instruct District Collectors to ensure that the District Level Technical Committees urgently review the scales of finance to meet the realistic credit needs of farmers. They have also been asked to help in energising and helping cooperatives to participate in the endeavour fully.

Mr. Chidambaram wrote in his letter that "clearly, these are measures which cannot be successfully implemented without the full and enthusiastic involvement of local administrations. I request you to kindly consider presiding over an urgent meeting of the State level Bankers' Committees to launch this programme. This will act as a string signal to local administrations for lending their full support to the programme."

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