‘Against a target of ₹6,000 cr., only ₹4,000 cr. was given’

For the first time in recent years, the disbursal of short-term crop loans by cooperative institutions in the State fell short of the target during the just-concluded financial year of 2016-17.

Against the target of ₹6,000 crore, the amount disbursed is around ₹4,000 crore, says an official, clarifying that this is only a provisional figure. In the last five years, on an average, the coverage was 10 lakh farmers, whereas, this time, about 7.2 lakh farmers were covered last year.

Demonetisation effect

Drought and demonetisation have been attributed to the variation.

In the wake of demonetisation, the norms fixed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made it extremely difficult for primary agricultural credit cooperative societies to lend money to farmers.

The official says that in the post-demonetisation period (November 2016-March 2017), around ₹1,470 crore was disbursed, benefiting 3.2 lakh farmers.