The Hindu Business Line : Banks to extend credit to tenant ryots this month

DECKS will be cleared by bankers to extend credit to tenant farmers by the month-end. Boards of Stale-level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) constituent banks will soon take the necessary decisions in this regard.

Andhra Bank, which leads the SLBC, has already passed a resolution in the board giving the go-ahead for giving credit to exclusive Rythu Mithra Groups (RBG) with tenant farmers as members.

"The committee has assured that all banks would pass necessary resolutions," Mr N. Raghuveera Reddy, Minister for Agriculture, said.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, he said that the Government could give loans to only 10,660 tenant farmers though it wanted to reach out to more.

Allaying fears of shortage of fertilisers, the Minister said the allocations far surpassed the projected requirements for fertilisers. "There is no scope for scarcity," he said.

Referring to reports of artificial scarcity in some parts of the State, he said that agricultural officials were asked to keep tabs on such unscrupulous dealers and take action.

The Ministry had set up a `Fertiliser Control Room' (2338 3511) to monitor the flow of fertilisers on a daily basis. The officials would also hold a meeting with the Railways to facilitate speedier movement of fertiliser.

The State machinery also geared up to meet the fertiliser needs for September. Besides meeting the projected requirement of 3.44 lakh tonnes of urea, the Government had decided to make one lakh more tonnes available.

The additional stocks would reach the State in three days, as the Centre had given the nod to redirect West Coast-bound fertiliser-laden ships to the East Coast.

The State was well on its course to meet the credit target of Rs 8,650 crore for the kharif season. As on August 22, credit flow was put at Rs 5,901 crore as against Rs 4,717 crore last season (against a target of Rs 7,500 crore) on the same day.

The State, however, fell short of its targets in other parameters like extending loans to non-loanee (new) farmers. As against a target of 10 lakh farmers, only 2.37 lakh farmers were covered.

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