Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. (File)
The banks should bear in mind that disbursing crop loan to farmers is a national duty and the financial institutions should display greater sensitivity while disbursing crop loan to farmers. These were the observations made by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at a meeting held with top bank officers at Mantralaya on Wednesday.
Fadnavis’s direction came following lower crop loan disbursement to farmers in rural Maharashtra. The process of sowing crops in the current kharif season has already begun with the onset of monsoon. The farmers who are eligible for fresh crop loan have expressed unhappiness for the inordinate delay.
Fadnavis said, “The farmers have started sowing kharif crop following the arrival of monsoon. They need funds to buy seeds and fertilisers. They should get the loan in time. Unfortunately, local bank branches in many districts are displaying insensitivity, leading to farmers’ anger against the banks. The bank head offices should issue stern directives to its local branches across state to expedite the process of disbursing crop loan to farmers. They should show more sensitivity towards farmers.”
At the earlier State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) meetings held in April and May, the CM had urged banks to streamline the process to enable maximum crop loan disbursement to farmers in the khariff season of 2018-19.
The state government has provided Rs 58,319 crore for crop loan for 2018-19. The banks had been told to ensure crop loan disbursement target should be 95 per cent. However, crop loan disbursement in 2017-18 stood at 47 per cent. While referring the SLBC meetings, Fadnavis said, “All the decisions, related to crop loan and farmers, taken in the SLBC should be implemented. There cannot be any justification in delaying crop loan disbursal to eligible farmers.”