Himalayan News Service

Panaji, March 8:

A bank that focuses on agriculture is to promote the concept of farmers’ clubs to enable grant of loans, boost yields and increase incomes of agriculturists. Mumbai-based National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NAB-ARD) is pushing for each of India’s nationalised and other major banks to mentor 200 to 250 such clubs and ensure they remain active and productive, said bank chief Ranjana Kumar. “If each of the 25 top Indianbanks takes on 200 to 250 farmers clubs each, we could operate 6,000 clubs. We need avenues where farmers have interactions directly with bankers — not just about financial sche-mes but also with other far-mers and non-governmental organisations,” Kumar said. Kumar, one of the few women at the helm of Indian banking, is credited with turning around the state-owned Indian Bank, which was once on the verge of closure. The Reserve Bank of India set up NABARD in 1982, with an initial capital of Rs 1 billion Indian Currency (IC), which has now grown to Rs 20 billion IC. Kumar said that since land records had been computerised only in a handful of states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, “there is no way of entering into a lease agreement (a pre-requisite for a loan) and so the banker simply can’t lend to the farmer. The state governments have a major job ahead. If the revenue authorities can provide some document to bankers, it would help in approving loans,” she felt.