*Directs banks to improve lending to housing, priority sector
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 22: Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam today commended the banks for their performance under AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, Back to Village Programme and various other initiatives taken by the Central and UT Government.
Chief Secretary made these remarks while chairing the 2nd Meeting of J&K Union Territory Level Bankers’ Committee (UTLBC) meeting.
The meeting was attended by Financial Commissioner (Finance) Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Principal Secretary, Housing & Urban Development Dheeraj Gupta, Principal Secretary Animal Husbandry / Agriculture Production, Navin Kumar Chowdhary, Director, DFS, MoF (GoI) A K Dogra, Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Kamal P. Patnaik, CGM NABARD, R K Srivastava, Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Sanjeev Verma, Deputy Commissioners of Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts. Other senior functionaries of the Government, RBI, NABARD, line departments, Banks, LDMs, Insurance companies, BSNL were also present in the meeting.
On the occasion, Chairman & MD, J&K Bank (Convenor, UTLBC J&K) R K Chhibber apprised that the Banks in UT of J&K have disbursed an amount of Rs 22,472.17 cr to 8,94,866 beneficiaries upto 31st December, 2020, thereby achieving 50.35 pc in financial terms and 58.18 pc in physical terms of the target fixed under Annual Credit Plan 2020-21.
Under the major four Government Sponsored Schemes (GSS), viz. NRLM, PMEGP, NULM and SC/ST/OBC Schemes, it was informed that an amount of Rs.376.71 cr has been disbursed by banks in favour of 13,536 beneficiaries.
Regarding 100% saturation of farmers under KCC Scheme, it was observed that banks in UT of J&K have issued 9.78 lakh KCCs to farmers in J&K, which include 8.86 lakh issued to Agricultural farmers and 0.92 lakh KCCs to the farmers associated with Animal Husbandry and Fisheries activities with a total financial outlay of Rs 5900 Cr.
Chief Secretary advised banks to ensure 100% saturation of farmers under KCC Scheme including those associated with allied agricultural activities, viz. Dairy, Sheep, Poultry, Fisheries, etc. He stressed upon the banks to ensure that all pending KCC applications (both under Agriculture as well as Animal Husbandry/Fisheries) are disposed off by the end of Current Financial Year.
Regarding performance under various sectors, the Chief Secretary advised the banks to lay special focus on Agriculture, MSMEs and Housing Sectors and ensure achievement of allocated target under Annual Credit Plan 2020-21.
Chief Secretary instructed banks to cover all eligible cases under PM SVANidhi Yojana (Street Vendors Scheme) – one of the flagship programs of GoI under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, including 6000 more cases expected to be sponsored by the concerned sponsoring agencies, by the end of CFY (2020-21).
During the meeting, the Chief Secretary lauded the role played by J&K Bank during the UT Government’s Back to Village Program besides appreciating the efforts of SBI in having improved its performance under lending to Priority Sector. However, it was noted that performance of major new generation Private Sector Banks viz. HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank in lending to Priority Sector and Government Sponsored Schemes has not remained satisfactory. They were advised to scale up their performance in J&K henceforth.
Speaking on the occasion, Financial Commissioner Finance Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta stated that MSMEs Sector being the major driver of growth, banks need to put in strenuous efforts to achieve 100% targets allocated for the Sector under ACP 2020-21. Appreciating the role of banks during the Back-to-Village Programme, he stated that banks have so far sanctioned more than 16000 cases and envisaged an aggregate sanction of 20,000 cases under the programme by the end of Current Financial Year.
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