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Nabard to provide 300 cr. for education, health

Jammu: The National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) will provide a loan of Rs.300 crore for construction of 4,000 additional class rooms, 100 primary health centres and 200 dispensaries in Jammu and Kashmir this year.

Nabard has also agreed to enhance normative loan allocation to the State for the current fiscal from Rs.506 crore to Rs.900 crore.

The urgency for taking up these social sector-related development activities was highlighted at a high-level meeting between Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister of State for Finance Pawan Kumar Bansal and Nabard Chairman U.C. Sarangi here on Monday, an official statement said.

The financing agency will provide a loan of Rs.100 crore for undertaking construction of additional classrooms in about 1,000 newly upgraded higher secondary schools in the state to be completed in four months. Another Rs.200 crore would be made available by Nabard for construction of buildings for 100 primary health centres and 200 allopathic and ayurvedic hispensary buildings this year across the State, the statement said.

It was decided that the State Government would send education and health sectors related projects to Nabard by April 20, besides prioritising other projects pending with the financial institution for clearance in its board meeting scheduled for April 25.

There are projects worth Rs.524 crore pending with Nabard for another 678 projects costing Rs.1,062 crore would be forwarded to it soon.

The Chief Minister said that keeping in view the limited working season in the State there was a need for early sanction of projects by the financial institutions to ensure time-bound completion.

Mr. Bansal assured the Chief Minister that Nabard would clear the proposals already submitted by the State Government by this month. He said other proposals to be received from the State Government would be cleared in June this year.

The Union Minister also said that special attention was being given to Jammu and Kashmir as well as other hill states and North-East states in providing finances for infrastructure development.

The visiting minister also asked the State officials to prioritise projects for funding in various sectors. — PTI

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Nabard to provide 300 cr. for education, health

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