Reschedule loans in Titli-hit areas, Chandrababu Naidu tells bankers

DWCRA groups will stage dharna if ‘Pasupu-Kumkuma’ instalment not released, says Naidu

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday asked the bankers to reschedule the crop loans in the Titli-affected areas in Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts. The State government developed and improved the system of disbursing the compensation within 10 days of the cyclone hitting the coast. The banks should match the pace, he said.

The Chief Minister was addressing the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) meeting at the Secretariat.

Mr. Naidu suggested the bankers keep sufficient cash to ensure that the compensation reached the victims promptly. He also wanted them to replace the damaged currency notes. The bankers agreed to provide an international gateway to facilitate donations being made by the NRIs when the Chief Minister said many people were coming forward to help the victims.

DWCRA groups

Referring to the Pasupu Kumkuma scheme (capital infusion) for the DWCRA groups, Mr. Naidu said, “I will ask the DWCRA groups to stage a dharna in front of the banks if their instalment is not disbursed before November 15.” He said the government had released ₹1,814.82 crore towards the capital infusion. It intended to pay ₹2,000 to each of 86 lakh beneficiaries as the last tranche but was at the receiving end due to the failure of the bankers.

Saying the State government had taken up housing for the poor in a big way, Mr. Naidu asked the bankers to help the government achieving its goals. The government was creating infrastructural facilities at all housing complexes for the poor and would ensure that the houses remain as their assets.

As part of the annual credit plan, a target was set to extend loans of ₹1,01,564 crore to the agricultural sector and the banks had released ₹31,007 crore in the first quarter achieving 30.53%. In the MSME sector, they released loans of ₹9,715 crore achieving 34.38% and ₹47,234 crore to other priority sectors.

The government set a target of providing loans of ₹7,500 crore to the tenant farmers this year and ₹2,530.24 crore was provided to 2,52,756 tenant farmers in the first half year.