The district administration has organised a pompous meeting to distribute the Loan Eligibility Cards (LECs) to tenant farmers in 15 mandals in Vijayawada revenue division in the district.
Distributing the cards to eligible farmers, Secondary Education Minister K. Parthasarathy on Tuesday said that the district administration had identified 60,000 farmers were eligible for issuance of the cards, while more than 80,000 farmers submitted their applications. Of this, 18,313 cards were being distributed in Vijayawada division. As many as 932 farmers were provided loans worth of Rs. 2.51 crore through 65 branches of various banks, he said.
A rough estimate points out that there were three lakh farmers in the district. The farmers, who have not received or applied for the cards need not worry. The government would arrange loans to eligible farmers through Joint Liability Groups (JLGs). There were 25,000 JLGs in the district. Of this, 5,200 JLGs were sanctioned loans worth of Rs. 42 crore, he said.
Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal, MLC Ilapuram Venkaiah, Vijayawada (West) MLA Velampalli Srinivas, Vijayawada (Central) MLA Malladi Vishnu, Vijayawada (East) MLA Y. Ravi, Krishna District Cooperative Central Bank Ltd., Chairman Vasanata Nageswara Rao, and district Collector S.A.M. Rizvi spoke.
With banks and financial institutions shying away from lending to tenant farmers, the government promulgated AP Licensed Cultivators Ordinance 2011 to extend the facilities enjoyed by the land owners. The cardholders besides crop loans would get input subsidy, crop insurance, seeds and fertilizers, crop compensation and any other relief announced and distributed by the government.
The cards would be issued to tenant farmers without making the land owners liable for repayment of the loans. At the same time, the tenant farmers should repay loans promptly. The government objective was to extend loans to farmers during kharif and rabi seasons.
The ordinance had made it clear that it was an arrangement to facilitate banks to give loans to tenant farmers. Interests of land owners would be protected, they said.
