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Shobha Kannan

Mecheda (East Midnapore), July 20 Close to 3.5 lakh farmers in West Bengal, who have defaulted in the repayment of crop loans subsequent to the announcement of the agricultural debt waiver scheme, would not be eligible for fresh loans from the short-term cooperative credit structure (STCCS) in the State, according to Mr Samir Ghosh, Chairman, West Bengal State Co-operative Bank Ltd.

The overall crop loan recovery percentage in the State dropped to 56.11 per cent as on March 31, 2008, from 70.76 per cent during the corresponding period last year, said Mr Ghosh, while addressing the Central Co-operative Banks’ Conference here on Saturday.

Attributing this to the misconceptions among farmers about the debt waiver scheme and therefore reluctance among them to repay the loan thereafter, Mr Ghosh, said, “The farmers did not fully understand the scope of the scheme and therefore thought that all of them, irrespective of the cut-off period, were entitled to the benefit of the waiver”.

During 2007-08, 8.88 lakh farmers received crop loans of Rs 946.31 crore from Primary Agricultural Credit Societies of the State, constituting 88.12 per cent of the target set for crop loans during the year. “Only 56 per cent of the loans have been repaid while 44 per cent of the farmers have defaulted,” Mr Ghosh said.

STCCS targets 40 per cent higher disbursals at Rs 2,250 crore in 2008-09, up from Rs 1,600 crore in 2007-08. It also aims to achieve 52 per cent growth in disbursal of crop loans at Rs 1,450 crore this year (Rs 950 crore).

The demand for Kharif crops could be close to Rs 750 crore this year, Mr Ghosh pointed out. STCCS also plans to double the number of Kisan Credit Cards issued at 3.50 lakh (2.29 lakh).

The number of savings-linked self-help groups increased from 1.32 lakh to 1.55 lakh and those credit-linked also increased at 0.98 lakh (0.80 lakh) in 2007-08.

The savings-linkage and credit-linkage of SHGs is expected to increase by 50,000 in 2008-09.

As on March 31, 2008, 303 branches of the State and Central Co-operative banks in West Bengal mobilised deposits worth Rs 6,426 crore. They also deployed Rs 4,716 crore in advances, yielding a credit-deposit ratio of 73 per cent.

More Stories on : Farm credit | Farm credit | West Bengal

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‘Farmers did not fully understand scope of loan waiver scheme’

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