Maharashtra govt sets higher crop loan disbursement target at Rs 58,319 crore

Crop loans are disbursed through a network of financial institutions: state cooperative banks, national banks, commercial banks and rural banks. At the beginning of the financial year, the banks are given a target.

A senior official in the cooperation and marketing department said, “The low crop loan disbursement last year can be attributed to two major reasons. Foremost being a large number of farmers across the state, anticipating a complete loan waiver, did not come forward to clear their dues and apply for fresh loans. In the second category were farmers who waited for the loan waiver to clear their dues before applying for fresh loans. As the loan waiver process began in October-November 2017, the kharif season was almost over by then.”

The failure of the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) to provide authentic data in terms of number of farmers eligible for loans and debt too compounded the problems. The SLBC, which had to twice revise its own list from 89 lakh farmers to 67 lakh as debt-ridden, compounded the problems for farmers waiting for crop loans.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who has held at least half-a-dozen meetings with the SLBC, has issued clear instructions to ensure 100 per cent disbursement of crop loans to eligible farmers in 2018-19.

An official in the cooperation and marketing department said, “To attain a target of 90-95 per cent disbursal is not difficult provided financial institutions take a little more initiative.”

“Unlike last year, this year there is no ambiguity as the loan waiver process has been completed, making more than 47 lakh farmers debt-free and eligible for fresh loans,” he added. In addition, a sizeable number of farmers, 15-20 lakh, don’t have any debt and are eligible for crop loans.