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Bhubaneswar: The state government has urged the Centre to sanction Rs1,300 crore to Orissa State Cooperative Bank (OSCB) through National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to help smooth provision of credit to drought-hit farmers.
“Although the policy of NABARD stipulates that 45 per cent of the crop loans to be provided by the cooperative banks should come as refinance from them to Orissa State Cooperative Bank, the limit falls short of the `1,300 crore against eligibility norms of NABARD,” Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wrote to Union finance minister Arun Jaitley Friday.
Patnaik pointed out that NABARD has sanctioned a refinance of `3,200 crore only against the programme of `10,000 crore for disbursement of crop loans by cooperative banks. “The Chief Secretary has already written to the NABARD chairman in this connection but no response has been received so far,” he said.
The Chief Minister apprised the Union minister about the drought condition prevalent in the state and urged him to sanction the amount soon so that farmers of the state do not face inconvenience.
The state government has decided to provide fresh loans to farmers in the drought-affected areas without recovering the loans advanced during Kharif 2015, Patnaik informed Jaitley.
The farmers affected by drought have been persuaded by the state government to opt for cultivation of various crops during the current Rabi season. “Therefore, it is expected that the cooperative banks should provide them with adequate credit for the purpose and NABARD refinance is essentially required to enable the cooperative banks led by Orissa State Cooperative Bank to cope with the credit requirements of the drought-affected farming community,” the Chief Minister said.
