MUMBAI: Bankers on Thursday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's package for Vidarbha farmers was being implemented and relief measures were being taken up on a contingency basis. Interest to the tune of Rs. 712 crore interest on agriculture loans had been waived, they said.

Amid reports that farmers are committing suicide even after the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the Vidarbha region, Y.S.P. Thorat, Chairman, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) told a press conference: "The banking system of the country is sensitive to this issue and we will bring Vidarbha under control."

Rs. 950 crore disbursed

He said that as on August 1, 2006, Rs. 950 crore had been disbursed against Rs. 730 crore for the whole of last year. Sowing had been completed over 90 per cent of the area. There was a significant crop diversion from cotton to soya and tur in Vidarbha districts. Soya had been planted on around two lakh hectares as against cotton on 92,000 hectares. The sharp fall in international cotton prices was one of the reasons for loan defaults by the farmers.

Loans worth around Rs. 1,270 crore had been rescheduled by commercial and cooperative banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs). These loans had been rescheduled with "a one-year moratorium for 3 to 5 years." The agricultural credit target for the six districts had been revised from Rs. 1,308 crore to Rs. 2,583 crore. "Not only has this been done, but it has also been allocated among the six districts on a bank-wise basis. With a view to facilitating credit, banks are not insisting on NOC from other bank branches." The districts are: Amaravati, Buldhana, Wardha, Yavatmal, Akola and Washim.

"It is often mentioned that suicides do not stop despite initiatives, and doubts are cast on the quality of the initiatives," he said, adding, "What is often forgotten is that there is a gestation period between the administration of the medicine and the kicking in of the cure." So the bankers decided to reach out to the vulnerable families in each of the village to be identified by the villagers themselves through the auspices of the banking system and the Government as a primary initiative. He said farmers' clubs were by far the best way for taking primary knowledge on extension to farmers. "The Chairmen of the Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India and NABARD are forming a small group to off-scale the farmers' clubs four-fold in the next year," he added.

On the irrigation side, 1.59 lakh hectares would be brought under assured irrigation at a cost of Rs. 2,177 crore over a period of 3 years by the State.

Watershed development

On the watershed side, three initiatives had been taken — check dams, watershed development and rain harvesting schemes.

In these six districts, 500 check dams would be constructed over the next three years at an average cost of Rs. 2 lakh a check dam.

This would cost Rs. 60 crore. Under the watershed development programme, 90,000 hectares would be treated to conserve moisture and soil. This would cost Rs. 60 lakh a watershed of 1,000 hectares, entailing an outlay of Rs. 50 crore. These watersheds would generate nearly Rs. 50 lakh mandays over a period of four years.

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