Bank credit for MP farmers

Bhopal, Mar 25 (UNI) Leading commercial banks have sought from the Madhya Pradesh government a list of villages affected by recent hailstorm and unseasonal rains to enable the banks to extend relief measures.

''The banks are eager to extend all possible help to affected farmers under the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India'', Central Bank of India Executive Director K Subbaraman told the State Level Bankers Committee meeting here yesterday.

Banks in the state are set to achieve the target of doubling the flow of credit to agriculture sector in a record two years period by the end of the current financial year as against three years stipulated by the Government of India, CBI Deputy General Manager R P Tripathi said.

Referring to the performance of banks in the state, Mr Subbaraman said while deposits increased by only Rs 520 crore, advances grew by a whopping Rs 9495 crore over March last year. Of this, priority sector accounted for Rs 4841 crore.

The credit-deposit (C-D) ratio of the state stood at a healthy 73 per cent which is much above the national norm of 60 per cent.

Efforts of the Bankers Committee to improve position in 14 districts with low C-D ratio have borne fruits with only three districts remaining under this category, he said, adding constant monitoring will be maintained to improve the position in these districts.

As many as 4,17,323 Kisan credit cards have been issued while efforts are on to cover other eligible farmers also under the scheme, he added.

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