BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Government on Friday requested the Centre to ask National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) to sanction Rs 1,300 crore to Odisha State Cooperative Bank at the earliest so that farmers of the drought-hit State are not put into inconvenience in such a situation.
“Although the policy of Nabard stipulates that 45 per cent of crop loans to be provided by Cooperative Banks should come as refinance from them to Odisha State Cooperative Bank, the limit falls short of Rs 1300 crore against eligibility norms of Nabard,” Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said in a letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Though the Chief Secretary has already written to the Nabard Chairman in this regard, there has been no response so far, he said.
Naveen said, “As I understand, against the programme of Rs 10,000 crore for disbursement of crop loans by Cooperative Banks, Nabard has sanctioned a refinance of only Rs 3,200 crore.”
Stating that the farmers affected by drought have been sensitised by the State Government to go for cultivation of various crops during the current Rabi season, he said it is expected that the Cooperative Banks should provide them adequate credit for the purpose.
Stating that Kharif crops in 215 of 314 blocks have suffered extensive damage due to the drought condition, he said the State Government has decided to provide fresh loans to farmers in drought affected areas without recovering the loans advanced during Kharif 2015.