Releasing another financial assistance of Rs 85 crore to bail out the Punjab State Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank Limited (PSCADB), the State Government has, till date, extended aid of Rs 798 crore to save these development banks.

Sharing details, the state Finance, Planning, Excise and Taxation Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday said that the state Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank was stuck in the quagmire of financial crisis due to neglect by the previous state governments. “Financial assistance of Rs 85 crore has now been provided to this cooperative bank so that it could pay the due installment to NABARD. In case of non-payment of due installment of Rs 120.91 crore to NABARD by January 31, 2023, the bank would have become NABARD’ defaulter and it would fail to get refinance from NABARD in future,” he said.

Giving details about the assistance provided by the State Government to this cooperative bank so far, the Minister said that the government had provided Rs 425 crore on May 26, 2022, to repay the bullet loan of NABARD, Rs 100 crore to repay loan installment due on July 31, 2022, besides providing Rs 62.67 crore on April 28, and Rs 125.33 crore on September 21, 2022, to pay pension and pension arrears.

The Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank has been facing this crisis only because the previous governments did not make sufficient efforts to recover the loans provided by this bank.

“Punjab Government is committed to reviving this bank for the welfare of farmers and agriculturists. This bank has been playing an important role in providing easy loans to farmers to ensure development of the agriculture sector,” said Cheema while making an appeal to the borrowers to make honest efforts to repay their loans as soon as possible because the existence of this bank is very important to provide easy loans to people like them.