Amaravati: In what could be a historic move, the state government has successfully prevailed upon the bankers to grant crop loans to the actual cultivators instead of landowning farmers. Though the bankers have been granting loans to the tenant farmers for long, it mostly remained a token measure as over 90 per cent of the tenant farmers were depending on the private moneylenders for aid during the crop season. With rules strictly prohibiting the bankers to issue loans either to the landlords or those certified by the local revenue authorities, the bankers have never been liberal in granting loans to the actual cultivators.
However, this situation is expected to be completely changed very soon as the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government has succeeded in making the bankers in the state to take e-crop record as evidence to grant loans to the actual cultivators. The state government which launched the innovative Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) to extend all services to the farmers, had also introduced e-crop methodology to record the details of actual cultivators. The state government has been utilising the data in e-crop for procurement of produce and to extend the crop insurance benefit to the farmers. The e-crop data is being readied in a fool-proof system as the officials from agriculture and revenue departments are physically visiting the fields to record the details of the existing crop. The government is also providing zero interest benefit to all those farmers who paid their crop loans on time only with the help of e-crop record.
Taking the positive outcome of the e-crop, the state government has now directed the bankers to take the same as record to grant the crop loans to the actual cultivators. The district collectors have also been directed to issue the Tenant Farmer Loan Eligibility Cards to all the tenant farmers based on the e-crop data. “We have requested the state government to extend support in synchronization of the c-crop data with loan charge record with the bankers and e-karshak portals in order to grant loans based on e-crop data,” said a senior banker. Agriculture commissioner H Arun Kumar has confirmed that the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) has agreed to issue loans based on e-crop data.
However, this situation is expected to be completely changed very soon as the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government has succeeded in making the bankers in the state to take e-crop record as evidence to grant loans to the actual cultivators. The state government which launched the innovative Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) to extend all services to the farmers, had also introduced e-crop methodology to record the details of actual cultivators. The state government has been utilising the data in e-crop for procurement of produce and to extend the crop insurance benefit to the farmers. The e-crop data is being readied in a fool-proof system as the officials from agriculture and revenue departments are physically visiting the fields to record the details of the existing crop. The government is also providing zero interest benefit to all those farmers who paid their crop loans on time only with the help of e-crop record.
Taking the positive outcome of the e-crop, the state government has now directed the bankers to take the same as record to grant the crop loans to the actual cultivators. The district collectors have also been directed to issue the Tenant Farmer Loan Eligibility Cards to all the tenant farmers based on the e-crop data. “We have requested the state government to extend support in synchronization of the c-crop data with loan charge record with the bankers and e-karshak portals in order to grant loans based on e-crop data,” said a senior banker. Agriculture commissioner H Arun Kumar has confirmed that the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) has agreed to issue loans based on e-crop data.