The State Government has asked bankers to grant agricultural loans to farmers using the official webland portal for loan charge creation.
The request comes in the light of the amendment made to Records of Rights Act 1971 avoiding the need for farmers to keep their passbooks and copies of pahanis with banks for obtaining loans. The data of agriculture land related issues has been hosted online and the banks could make use of the facility, Revenue Department Special Chief Secretary B.R. Meena said.
Multiple lending
He said the banks would utilise the revenue records which were available online to verify the correctness of the records before sanctioning loans to applicant farmers.
Banks would record their loan charge in the web portal to avoid multiple financing and this would go a long way in eliminating the fake passbook menace, he said. Mr. Meena was speaking at a meeting of the steering committee of the State Level Bankers’ Committee held here on Thursday, adding 21 banks had already commenced using the portal and other banks could emulate the practice at the earliest.
Agriculture Secretary C. Parthasarathi requested the banks to step up the pace of crop loan renewals. According to the available data, banks had lent ₹ 6,056 crore under agriculture crop loan segment during kharif 2017 covering 8.35 lakh farmers. This was around 25 % of the target set for the current crop season.
Insurance cover
Banks should also take steps to cover all farmers, whose loans were renewed during the current season, under the Prime Minister’s Fasal Bima Yojana ensuring that insurance penetration was at least 40 % as envisaged by the Centre. The Government had extended the cut off dates for red chillies and cotton crop under the weather-based crop insurance scheme from July 9 and 15 to July 15 and 31 respectively. Banks should take advantage of the extension and cover all farmers, especially the cotton growers, under the WBCIS, since cotton was a major rainfed crop of Telangana. SBI CGM Telangana Circle Hardayal Prasad exhorted the banks to take steps to extend loans to farmers taking advantage of webland portal and the weather based crop insurance scheme.
