Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will chair a meeting of the Chief Ministers and Finance Ministers of southern states here on Tuesday.
Union Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena, top officials from the Finance Ministry, RBI, the heads of public sector banks and the chairman of Nabard will attend the meeting at Jubilee Hall.
The meet will discuss a host of issues, including the states’ finances, the Chief Minister’s Office said.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah will raise several issues like 2 per cent interest subvention to rescheduled farm loans, slow progress in rescheduling of farm loans and extension of collateral-free loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), it said.
The Chief Minister, who returned from New Delhi this evening, reviewed the arrangements for the meeting with Chief Secretary S V Prasad, Special Chief Secretary (Finance) G Sudhir and other senior officials.
Mr. Rosaiah, who also holds the finance portfolio, was quoted by the CMO as saying that “an area of concern in agriculture is financing the tenant farmers, who actually cultivate the lands.”
“Financing through Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) has not really taken—off and field level problems still persist.
Hence, banks should immediately formulate schemes so that the tenant farmers get loans at concessional rates.”
