November 28, 2018
Bangla Govt offers 2% subsidy on farm loan interest
5The Bangla Government has decided to disburse farm loans at a curtailed interest rate of 2 per cent through cooperative banks and cooperative societies. The rate was 4 per cent earlier.
This was announced by the State Cooperation Minister at a programme recently. Loans amounting to Rs 7,000 crore will be distributed among farmers. Last year, the quantum of farm loans was Rs 5,200 crore.
The government decided to increase the quantum of farm loan through the cooperative banks and societies as farmers in remote areas often do not get loans from commercial banks, said the minister.
The total amount of Rs 7,000 crore would be distributed by March 2019. The government has assured the cooperative banks that it would shoulder the responsibility of paying them the amount that would be required to decrease the interest rate on farm loans.
A senior official of the Cooperation Department said that there are 710 gram panchayat areas which have no banks, and so the State Government recently decided to allow 2,661 cooperative societies to work as branches of cooperative banks. As a result, many more farmers would be brought under the banking net.
The government has also decided to disburse loans worth Rs 1,200 crore among self-help groups through the cooperative banks and societies. Last year, the amount was Rs 1,000 crore.
