Punjab Cooperative Banks to rescue of indebted farmers

Chandigarh, Oct 23 (UNI) The biggest dilemma facing the farmers is indebtedness, to rescue the agricultural community from the clutches of private money lenders, the Punjab State Cooperative Bank has been advancing short Term Credit in form of crop loans to the farmers through the network of its branches in villages and Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies.

Stating this at a meet the press programme here today, Cooperatives Minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh that his department had also come out with the Revolving Cash Credit scheme for debt swapping and freeing the farmers from the clutches of private money lenders.

This credit facility is available at much lower rate of interest for repaying the private money lenders, he added while pointing out that approximately 14,165 farmers had availed the benefit under this scheme to an amount of Rs 1980 crore till now.

Playing a pivotal role to encoruage and provide facilities for education, the Cooperative Department has come forward with a scheme in which the banks provide education loans up to Rs 10 lakh for studies in India or abroad at a nominal rate of nine per cent without any margin money, he said. This loan is to be repaid after the completion of the course.

Capt Singh said loans to children of Dalits, poor families and Backward Classes is available at 7.2 per cent under Cooperative Education Loan scheme. The upper limit is upto Rs 10 lakh and it is to be repaid in 5 years.

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