Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

'Revise credit limit to lift handloom stocks'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI Aug. 1 . With Tamil Nadu weavers facing starvation, the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, today asked the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development to ``immediately consider'' revision of credit limit of cooperative banks for lifting the huge pile-up of handloom stocks with the weavers' societies.

In her hour-long meeting with the NABARD chairman, Y.C. Nanda, at the Secretariat here today, the Chief Minister asked the bank to ``look into the issue sensitively in view of the distress faced by the handloom weavers.''

(In the face of the mounting uncleared stocks, the cooperative banks have issued ``stop payment notices'' to the weaver societies.)

Drawing the attention of the NABARD chief to the ``serious problem caused by the stagnation of handloom stocks due to poor market conditions'', Ms. Jayalalithaa expressed confidence that the apex rural bank would ``consider our suggestions for greater support''.

According to an official release, the NABARD chief agreed to increase the disbursements under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund from the originally planned Rs. 350 to Rs. 400 crores.

The release said Ms. Jayalalithaa informed the NABARD chief about the ``all-round measures'' to facilitate the rapid creation of rural infrastructure.

She sought the NABARD's assistance for secondary grade schools and upgradation of primary health centres into 30-bed mini-hospitals in all 385 panchayat unions.

The State had utilised Rs. 288.48 crores under the Fund for various projects in the last financial year, while it proposed to draw Rs. 350 crores for improvement of schools and primary health centres in this fiscal. The NABARD should consider increasing the refinance amount, she requested.

The Chief Minister also wanted the NABARD to reduce the interest rates from the existing 8.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent on advances to self-help groups and assistance to the State Government for capital participation and short-term credit limits for marketing of agricultural crops.

The bank should also extend refinance facility to the Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation for implementing the New Anna Marumalarchi Thittam and relax the norm of 25 per cent minimum lending for short-term agricultural loans in the case of the State apex cooperative bank and 40 per cent for district central cooperative banks on par with the regional rural banks.

State Ministers and senior officials took part in the meeting.

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