The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) was in the forefront of financial and development activities in Andhra Pradesh,where its disbursement under production credit stood at Rs 5,422 crore in 2011-12,a top official said today. Addressing a press conference here,Assistant General Manager of NABARD,Visakhapatnam,K V S S L V Prasada Rao said the disbursement under investment credit touched Rs 2,369 crore in the last fiscal. Another Rs 1,352 crore was sanctioned to Government of Andhra Pradesh under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF),he said. NABARD,which will turn 30 on July 12,was set up to promote sustainable and equitable agriculture and rural prosperity through effective credit support,relate services,institution development and other innovative initiatives. Rao said the bank has decided to sanction crop loans worth Rs 7,000 crore to the farmers in the current financial year as against Rs 5,400 crore in the last fiscal. The bank had been playing a key role in implementing several development interventions in Visakhapatnam district with special emphasis on tribal areas,he said. The bank has launched 'Maa Thota' programme with a view to improve quality of life of the tribal community by providing sustainable livelihood through natural resource management,the NABARD official said. The bank has sanctioned Rs 42 crore under this programme,which will benefit 10,000 tribal families,he said. He said a scheme in association with the Centre has been formulated to bring out a viable and self-sustainable model for promoting and financing women self-help groups (SHGs) by involving an anchor NGO in each of the selected districts. The scheme is to be implemented in 113 districts of the country,including 16 in Andhra Pradesh.
