Hyderabad, July 12: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today exhorted bankers to grant crop loans to all eligible farmers in the state, including tenant farmers by simplifying procedures and removing needless hurdles.
He also asked Bankers to cover five lakh new farmers who had no debts against their name during 2009-2010. ”Under any circumstances, no eligible farmer should be denied crop loans on the pretext of rules and procedures,” the Chief Minister said, interacting with officials on the eve of State Level Bankers Committee meeting to be held at Jubilee Hall tomorrow.
The Chief Minister pointed out that the banking sector could not achieve the target for crop loans during 2008-09 in spite of record agricultural production. The achievement was only 82.35 per cent during 2008-09. He wanted that the banks to achieve the target for the year 2009-10 well in advance.
He also suggested that crop loans to tenant farmers be substantially increased. He instructed the agricultural department to conduct farmers meets in all villages and send the list of tenant farmers to the banks He said the state government departments must create opportunities for farmers to take up innovative projects under agriculture and allied activities by providing sufficient infrastructure.
The Chief Minister said focus should be on horticulture schemes due to the increasing demand for vegetables. The Chief Minister observed that aggregate advances of banking sector in the state at the end of March 2009 was Rs 2,10,294 crore, as against Rs 1,48,015 crore at the end of March 2008, registering a growth rate of 42.08 per cent during 2008-09.
—–Agencies