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Special credit cards a boon for farmers in Banswara

JAIPUR: Farmers in the tribal-dominated Banswara district of Rajasthan have benefited immensely from the special credit cards issued to them during a two-month campaign. The cards have provided them with the facilities such as bank loan on low interest rate, crop insurance and easy availability of seeds and fertiliser.

According to an official release issued here on Sunday, a record number of 25,000 farmers’ credit cards were distributed in Banswara district during May and June. District Collector Bhanuprakash Eturu held meetings with the panchayat functionaries at various levels to ensure the supply of cards to farmers in their native villages.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), public sector banks and Cooperative and Agriculture Departments of the State Government rendered support to the drive and helped the district administration in its two phases.

The release stated that the farmers were encouraged to fill up application forms between May 1 and 13, while the first phase was launched between May 14 and June 13, when camps were organised in all the 307 village panchayats in the district for on-the-spot distribution of credit cards.

After issuing the cards to 20,000 farmers, the district administration took up the second phase in the second fortnight of June, in which 5,000 cards were distributed. The rural branches of various public sector banks distributed 15,000 cards, while the cooperative societies handed out 10,000 cards.

The release affirmed that the credit cards would protect the small and marginal farmers against the exploitation by private money-lenders.

A month-long programme for health check-up of students of government primary schools will begin in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan on July 15. The drive is expected to create awareness on the health and hygiene issues among the children and their parents.

Divisional Commissioner Niranjan Arya said at a workshop on “Shala Swasthya” (school health) programme in Bharatpur over the week-end that the invigilators would identify children suffering from various ailments and arrange for their treatment.

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Special credit cards a boon for farmers in Banswara

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