Extension of loan repayment up to June 30 would be provided only for agriculture loans, said Appachettolanda Manu Muthappa, president of the Madikeri Taluk Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development (PCARD) Bank, here on Friday.
Farmers were not repaying loans under the impression that the concession applied to all types of loans, Mr. Muthappa said.
As per the loan and interest waiver announced by the Union Government in 2008, those who repaid 75 per cent of their agriculture loans (before June 30) would be eligible for a 25 per cent concession, Mr. Muthappa said.
The bank had so far given loan and interest waiver worth Rs. 4 crore to farmers in Madikeri under various schemes announced by the Union and State Governments.
It included Rs. 2.28 crore to 1,416 farmers under the Union Government's special economic package (Vidarbha Package), Rs. 1.24 crore as State Government's interest waiver and Rs. 28.64 lakh as loan and interest waiver both by the Union and State Governments, he said.
The bank had posted profits consecutively for the last four years. It had cut down on administrative costs by reducing staff from nine to three. The bank had also paid 10 per cent dividend to its members during 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09, Mr. Muthappa said.
PCARD Bank here was the first one in the taluk to provide loans over Bane (a form of land tenure) land in Kodagu, which helped people raise large coffee and pepper plantations, he said. The bank provided 2 per cent subsidy — worth Rs. 5.83 lakh — on prompt loan repayments which benefited 288 people in 2008-09, Mr. Muthappa said.
The bank would provide free Yeshasvini insurance cover to farmers who repaid loans on time. They would get a free Sim card from IFFCO Sanchar Ltd., which provides agriculture-related updates five times a day, he said.
Vice-president of the bank Karera Charmanna and manager Balagangadhar were present.
