NABARD to provide loan for infrastructural constructions in J

Jammu, Apr 7 (UNI) The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) will provide a loan of Rs 100 crore for the construction of 4,000 additional classrooms in the newly upgraded secondary and higher secondary schools throughout Jammu and Kashmir.

The construction of the additional classrooms would provide for the accommodation deficiency of about 1,000 newly upgraded secondary and higher secondary schools in the state.

The decision related to the developmental activities was highlighted at a high-level meeting between Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister of State for Finance, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Chairman, NABARD, U C Sarangi here today.

In the meeting, it was decided that the developmental activities would be completed within four months, while another Rs 200 crore would be made available by NABARD for the construction of buildings for 100 primary health centres and 200 allopathic and ayurvedic dispensary buildings this year across the State.

Currently, there were projects worth Rs 524 crore pending with NABARD for loan, while another 678 projects costing Rs 1,062 crore would be forwarded to it soon.

However, NABARD also agreed to enhance normative loan allocation, from Rs 606 crore to Rs 900 crore, to Jammu and Kashmir for the current fiscal.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NABARD for a package of Rs 220 crore for the recapitalisation and revitalisation of the cooperative credit institutions in the State.

The MoU was signed by Mr Sarangi and Registrar Cooperatives Dr G N Qasba in the presence of the Chief Minister and the Union Minister of State for Finance.

The package worked out in pursuance of Prof A Vaidayanathan Committee Report and would help the state in putting cooperative credit institutions in the sound fiscal health and enable these to compete with commercial banks and provide farm credit to the farmers.

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