Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
* CS compliments NABARD for supplementing state’s development agenda
* Aska NABARD to focus on priority sector lending
Chandigarh, Chief Secretary Punjab Mr. Sarvesh Kaushal today unveiled Rs. 1.41 lakh crore credit plan of NABARD for the state and said that this credit plan reflects the resurgent economy of of Punjab that was leaping towards accelerated growth due to focus on infrastructure and agriculture sector during last seven years.
Unveiling the credit plan and presiding over a seminar on accelerating the pace of capital foundation in agriculture and allied sectors here today, Mr. Kaushal said that NABARD in association with government and banking sectors has supplemented the state’s developmental activities in farm and non-farm sectors. He appreciated the role played by NABARD in addressing the credit needs and various developmental interventions especially in rural areas. He also appreciated the bankers for achieving the targets set in earlier years. Mr. Kaushal sought cooperation of financial institutions in liberal financing to rural youth so that the issue of migration from rural to urban areas was addressed. He also appreciated the role played by the financial institutions for covering all the households under PMJDY.
Unveiling the State Focus Paper projecting a credit plan of Rs. 141284 Crore prepared by NABARD, Mr. Kaushal said that it reflects the aggregate potential available under various sectors/subsectors. He also said that inaddition, imperative need to create appropriate infrastructure, critical infrastructure requirements for each sub-sector have also been indicated in the focus paper, which would be separately examined by the State Government. The Chief Secretary also launched a model scheme on playhouse and banking plan on dairy sector for five districts namely Ludhiana, SBS Nagar, Jallandhar, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar to give impetus to agriculture term loan financing by banks.
He also said that rural infrastructure was the foundation and growth engine for facilitating various economic activities and NABARD since inception of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund has supported 8215 projects at a cost of Rs. 9769 crore and RIDF assistance of Rs. 6662 crore to the state government. RIDF has not only supported a variety of infrastructure projects but also strengthened the social infrastructure in rural Punjab, said Mr. Kaushal.
Mr. Naresh Gupta CGM Punjab RO Chandigarh while presenting the highlights of the State Focus Paper for 2015-16 mentioned that in line with the objective of sustaining 4 % agriculture growth during the 12th Five Year Plan. He also put forth the sector specific issues to realize the credit potential.
It was indicated by NABARD officials that in order to direct the credit flow to various sectors potential of these sectors has been assessed which would in turn help the banks to plan their credit off take during 2015-16. Projections for some important sub-sectors are Rs. 3525 Crore for dairy development, Rs. 1733 Crore for storage/ market yards, Rs. 2892 crore for farm mechanization, Rs. 1490 crore for poultry, Rs. 353 crore for plantation and horticulture etc.
Various speakers presenting their papers during the seminar expressed concern over the Agriculture sector facing stagnation in production and productivity, monoculture of wheat and paddy cycle which forms 81% of gross cropped are, declining water table, deteriorating soil health due to excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides in Punjab. It was also mentioned that these issues could be addressed with concerted efforts of the government, banks, grass root level functionaries and the farming community. Strategies to encourage diversification of crops , checking depletion of ground water, aggregation of farmers as farmer clubs and producer organization, formation and bank linkage of self help groups mostly of women, formation and credit linkage of Joint Liability Groups which include landless farmers, implementations of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna to facilitate financial inclusion etc. were framed. These efforts, it was felt, would provide an enabling environment to boost rural economy especially with regard to agriculture and allied sector.
Prominent amongst others who were present included Mr. V. K. Meena Secretary Animal Husbandry, A. Venuprasad, Secretary Rural Development, Mr. K. S. Pannu, Secretary Irrigation, Mr. Naresh Gupta CGM NABARD, CGM RBI Ms. Anjali Mishra and representatives of Banks and Financial institutions.
