State Finance Minister Indira Hridayesh has said that banks should provide loans up to Rs1 lakh to the common man without any kind of guarantee. “It is a reality that people aspiring to be entrepreneurs do not go far as the banks are not supporting them as they should. The banks would say when approached that they would not issue loans sans guarantee. But I would dare ask them to explain how the banks’ non-performing assets (NPA) are piling up year after year,” she said.
Referring to a particular instance, though without naming anyone, she said a bank is now striving hard to recover a loan worth thousands of crores given to a businessmen. “It would be far better for the banks and the State as a whole if the former comes forward to disburse small loans to the common man. It would help millions to become entrepreneurs,” she said.
The Minister further appealed to the banks to help the teeming self-help groups (SHG) with credit cards whosoever wants to avail them. “Even you can help the farmers, florists and those growing traditional crops and running orchards. In a nutshell, you can increase credit deposit ratio (CDR) in the hills by providing the common man with easy loans,” she said. “The banks should issue loans to the wretched farmers whose crops are damaged due to inclement weather,” Hridayesh said.
“As per the available details, the banks have disbursed mere Rs6,051 crore out of the fixed Rs14,524 crore in the current financial year. It is mere 42 per cent of the total target while it is less than 30 per cent in seven districts of the state,” she said.
Giving details of the people coming under several welfare schemes in the state, she said that 11, 96, 852 have been registered under Prime Minister Surksha Bima (PMSB) while the figure is 3,63,789 under Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojna (JJBY) and 4004 under Atal Pension Yojna. “Similarly, loans worth Rs252 crore have been disbursed among 27,213 under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna (PMMY). The banks have linked 5,96,388 persons’ Aadhar cards with bank account so far,” she said.
Newly appointed chief secretary Shatrughan Singh sounded displeased over the delay in loan disbursement and asked the banks to prepare a list of cluster-based agriculture areas. He asked them to increase the employment opportunity through SHGs and asked NABARD and State Bank to constitute a sub- committee on it. He asked them to organize special fairs at the district levels. “Bank should provide Kissan Credit Cards (KCC) to the farmers so that they would not be forced to leave cultivation due to paucity of fund. Besides, you also pump credit in Micro, Small and Medium enterprises. You can also play a role in extending broadband connectivity in the remote areas and establish v-sat wherever possible,” he said.