Bankers, Rabri under scanner

The Planning Commission is considering a proposal that could get bank officials, who are seen to be coming in the way of Bihar’s develo...

The Planning Commission is considering a proposal that could get bank officials, who are seen to be coming in the way of Bihar’s development, ‘‘severe punishment’’.

Such a proposal is being debated after particularly bad results were shown by banks and the Rabri Devi government in implementing a scheme that could have got Bihar out of the drought-and-flash flood cycle.

An appraisal of the Million Shallow Tubewell Scheme by the Planning Commission has pointed to bank officials’ “disinterest” in facilitating loans to farmers who want to install tubewells .

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At a recent meeting chaired by Deputy Chairman K.C. Pant, a proposal to direct banks to give “suitable disciplinary punishment and reward” to officials involved in the project was debated.

Pant, sources said, was livid while reviewing the scheme and pulled up the Bihar government and all nationalised banks for poor performance. The tubewell scheme has been a success in Assam. For Bihar, the scheme was conceived after the formation of Jharkhand.

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