AP Dist farmers to get Rs 750 cr debt relief

Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, Jun 17 (UNI) Farmers in East Godavari District are likely to get a relief of around Rs 750 crore under the debt waiver scheme announced by the Centre for farmers with the settlement process expected to commence by June 30.

Reviewing a district-level committee meeting of bankers here today, Andhra Bank Deputy General Manager T S Ramarao said the steering committee of the state-level bankers committee had suggested distribution of debt relief certificates at a common place, preferably at mandal headquarters, in the presence of public representatives.

District Collector Gopalakrishna Dwivedi, who chaired the meeting, said a total of Rs 1,171 crore crop production loans - Rs 761 crore during Khariff and Rs 410 crore in Rabi - were proposed to be sanctioned during 2008-09, covering 3.95 lakh farmers.

It was also envisaged to disburse loans to an extent of Rs 127 crore for investment credit to agriculture and Rs 146 crore for allied activities.

Small Scale Industries Minister Gollapalli Surya Rao advised banks to sanction education loans to the deserving poor without insisting on collateral security or third party guarantee, strictly adhering to the RBI guidelines.

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