Farmers are always in need of short-term credit for various things like cultivation of crops, harvesting & maintenance of their farms etc. They take loans from private lenders at high interest rates and eventually come under huge debt. Keeping all these things in mind, the Government had launched Kisan Credit Card to provide the much-required relief to debt-ridden farmers. The objective of Kisan Credit Card scheme was to ensure that cultivators have easy and affordable access to short-term credit.
As per recent reports, Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir, BVR Subrahmanyam chaired a meeting to review the agricultural schemes, like Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan), Kisan Credit Card (KCC), MGNREGA & disbursement of relief to farmers under the SDRF.
Many top officials along with representatives of Jammu and Kashmir Bank & State Bank of India attended the meeting. Also, the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir & Deputy Commissioners and representatives of the lead banks and other officers also participated in the meeting through video link.
The Chief Secretary expressing disappointment at slow progress in registration of beneficiaries under the KCC scheme said that “The process needs to be finished in a mission mode through a sustained drive to be launched by the DCs to attain 100% coverage by 31st March”. He said the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir/Jammu will monitor the progress to ensure accomplishment of targets by the stipulated date.
He also asked the DCs to get farmers engaged in fishery, poultry and other similar sectors that are also included in the Kisan Credit Card scheme. He added that the scheme could be linked with Aadhaar card in order to avoid duplication.
While evaluating implementation of PM-Kisan, Subrahmanyam complimented the Divisional Commissioners as well as the DCs for excellent work. Further he asked the DCs to cover the left over cases by 1st March, with lead bank officials' involvement.
The Chief Secretary asked the Deputy Commissioners to make sure that the compensation against damage to kharif crops in the Jammu Division & apple crop in the Kashmir Division is disbursed within a month.
