Agri dept to take up issue of farmer loans in meet with SLBC today

Kolkata: The state Agriculture department will once again raise the issue of farmers facing difficulties in getting loans from banks, during a meeting with the State-Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC), scheduled to be held on Friday.

It may be mentioned that the state government had repeatedly urged the SLBC authorities earlier to take necessary steps, so that farmers do not face any trouble in getting loans.

Even Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had urged a senior representative of the SLBC while holding administrative review meeting in a district, to ensure that farmers do not face any problem in availing financial assistance.

Despite repeated requests from the state government, farmers still complain about the various problems they face in getting loans, when they visit a nearby bank.

According to some officials of the state Agriculture department, there are complaints of farmers facing problems in getting loan from banks, despite having necessary papers or no-objection certificates from concerned officials in the block-level.

Till November 2017, Kishan Credit Cards (KCCs) were given to around 70 lakh farmers and the number has gone up in the past few months. In December 2017, the Chief Minister also held a high-level meeting at Nabanna, to ensure that more farmers get KCC and the necessary financial assistance.

Amit Mitra, the state Finance minister, Ashis Banerjee, the state Agriculture minister and Pradip Majumdar, the agricultural advisor to the Chief Minister, along with senior officials of the state government, were present in the meeting.

Apart from distribution of KCC, the Chief Minister had also directed to take necessary measures, so that the existing card holders can get loans without facing any inconvenience.

So, members of the SLBC will once again be asked during Friday's meeting, to ensure that there is no delay in sanctioning loans for KCC holders.

The step to urge the SLBC authorities for the same once again, has been taken as there have been several complaints in which loans to farmers were not sanctioned at the right time, despite them having received the necessary grant from the state government.

This comes at the time when the state government is taking all necessary steps to provide support to farmers and it has helped in ensuring a rapid growth in production of paddy and other crops.

Bengal has won Krishi Karman award from the Centre for four consecutive years, for its development in the agriculture sector.