The migration of people from the mountainous areas of Uttarakhand has resulted in practice of oral lessees in farming.

Oral lessees are not the actual land holders but they cultivate crops in the lands of those who have migrated. These tenant farmers do not get the credit facility provided by the banks as they do not have required papers of the land. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has asked the banks of the State to make arrangements for granting credits under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to these oral lessees.

The banks can give KCC’s to these farmers either on receipt of a written statement on stamp paper given by the actual land owner or on a certificate provided by the revenue department mentioning the transfer of farming rights. The Assistant General Manager of NABARD regional office Dehradun Qamar Javed told The Pioneer that the agricultural productivity of the state especially in hilly areas can be increased if the benefit of credit under the KCC scheme is provided to the tenant farmers.

He said that such practice is being successfully implemented in other states and Uttarakhand too can get benefit from this scheme. Javed claimed that large areas of agricultural land lying waste at present can be brought under farming if oral lessees are provided KCC’s by the banks. The banks provide KCC to the farmers after lien marking the land records of the farmers and on the basis of the land holding and the type of crops cultivated the banks decide the credit limit of that farmer under KCC.

The farmers can avail a loan of up to three lakhs of rupees on 7% rate of interest in KCC. The banks also give a relaxation of 3% in the interest rate if the loan is repaid within one year from burrowing.