Srinagar, Aug 02: Banks operating in Jammu and Kashmir and Agriculture & Horticulture departments need to work in tandem to achieve the targets set in various Credit Linked Schemes of Agriculture Production Department.
This was stated by Principal Secretary to Government, Agriculture Production Department (APD) Shailendra Kumar, during a meeting held here at Civil Secretariat, while taking performance review of Banks operating in J&K and APDs regarding implementation of Credit Linked Schemes of Agriculture Production Department.
The meeting was attended by HODs of various departments, representatives from various banks and senior officials from line departments. General Managers Syed Rais Maqbool and Syed Shafat Hussain Rufai represented J&K Bank – Lead Bank in the UT of J&K – along with senior officials from its credit department.
On the occasion, Principal Secretary Shailendra Kumar stressed upon the participants to develop synergy for effective implementation of the credit related schemes of APD to ensure that all the eligible farmers across the UT are benefited.
“When we develop agricultural infrastructure in the UT or anywhere else, we are directly contributing to nation-building. Agriculture forms the fulcrum of our economy which makes it very important for the line departments and banks to formulate a joint mechanism for implementation of credit-linked schemes related to agriculture production,” he said to the participants, adding, “The need of the hour is to ensure all the 12 lac eligible farmers in the UT are covered under Kisan Credit Card Scheme through joint efforts from all the stakeholders.”
Pitching for a simple and hassle-free system, he said, “From applying to sanctioning and subsequent disbursement, process has to be simple. Due diligence has to be there but we can’t sit on applications without assigning genuine reason for the delay or rejections. Rejections need to be minimized and hand-holding of aspiring borrowers need to be done so that benefits of all the schemes like Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PMFMPE), Agri Infrastructure Fund, High Density Plantation Scheme etc. reach to the eligible farmers,” he said.
He impressed upon Banks and line departments alike for disposal of pendency on urgent basis besides calling for viable and quality Detailed Projects Reports (DPRs) by availing services of technically qualified resources.
“As is the case with PMFMPE, other departments should hire technical resources from banking industry and other relevant fields for examination and review of the DPRs which will ensure quality of finance is there and rejections are genuine,” he said. He also directed the line departments to ensure that pending mutations don’t act as hindrance to processing of loan facilities.
Banks and line departments assured the Principal Secretary that all the directions will be complied with besides putting in more and more efforts towards achieving the targets.
