CM Chandrababu Naidu urges bankers to help in achieving Swarnandhra

VIJAYAWADA: Be part of the government in the journey of Swarnandhra Vision 2047, Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu appealed to bankers on Monday.

Addressing them at the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) meeting at the Secretariat, the Chief Minister reaffirmed that the State government striving to make the Swarnandhra a reality by following the 10 guiding principles of the vision document.

Emphasising that the State government aims to reach a 15 per cent growth rate, Naidu sought the cooperation and support of the banks for the primary sector to achieve the target.

Highlighting the potential of agriculture and allied sectors in terms of growth, he asked the bankers to play a crucial role in the same. “The food habits of people in the State and across the country are changing rapidly. The way of cultivation of various food crops is transforming. Horticulture is fast replacing conventional agriculture. Therefore, the bankers must prioritise farmers and sanction maximum possible loans to them,” he told them.

Similarly, they should also extend the necessary financial assistance to farmers who prefer the cultivation of commercial crops, which gives an impetus to the economy, he said.

On the occasion, Naidu asked them to provide loans to farmers, who satisfied the norms, within 15 minutes of reaching their banks. He remarked that it is the State government’s policy to encourage dairy farming as the families dependent on it would reap more revenue if every family had two or three cattle. Acknowledging that farmers throw away their produce at times either because of the lack of marketing facilities or minimum support price (MSP), Naidu announced that efforts are underway to check this trend through Blockchain Technology.

Apart from sanctioning loans, banks must also encourage novel cultivation methods, he suggested the bankers. He informed the bankers that in states such as Punjab, the number of cancer patients increasing at an alarming rate due to the excessive use of pesticides and they are being rushed to New Delhi for treatment. The only solution for this is cultivation of horticulture and nature farming and the banks should extend their support to this, he added.

Stating that all possible ways are being explored to prevent farmer suicides, the Chief Minister stressed an immediate need for both the banks and the State government to focus on suicide prevention instead of rushing to pay ex gratia after their death. He directed bankers to take robust measures in sanctioning loans for MSMEs as the Centre has further simplified the procedure.

“We are working with an objective of ‘One Family-One Entrepreneur’ and thus banks should give the necessary encouragement to the MSMEs. The process of sanctioning loans to small-scale farmers must be further simplified to achieve this ambitious target,” he said.

Naidu also sought the banker’s cooperation in implementing the Central schemes.

Stating that massive green energy projects are in the pipeline, Naidu wanted the banks to take the initiative in sanctioning loans to them.

Ministers Payyavula Keshav, K Atchannaidu, Kondapalli Srinivas, Union Bank of India CEO Manimekhalai, and others are present.