September to be declared Kisan Credit Card Month

KOZHIKODE: September will be declared ‘Kisan Credit Card Month’ in the state after the central government directed all banks of Kerala to complete providing credit facilities to all farmers in the state by September 30.

The directive comes in the light of poor implementation of the Kisan Credit Card Scheme in the state since its inception in 1998. “There are more than 60 lakh farmers in Kerala but so far only 25 lakh Kisan Credit Cards have been issued in the state.

This directive has been issued so that all farmers can take advantage of the scheme as soon as possible,” said Nabard Chief General Manager KC Shashidhar. A sub-committee level meeting of the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) attended by representatives of State Agricultural Department, State Planning Board, Nabard and the Reserve Bank, held in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, charted out a plan of action to fulfil this directive.

“Different banks have been designated as lead banks in each district and it is the duty of these lead bank managers to co-ordinate activities in that district. Each lead bank manager will call a meeting with the collector and representatives of all banks in the district soon. Sub-committee level meetings of the SLBC will be held every Monday in the capital to monitor the progress in each district which will then be duly reported to the central government,” said sources within the SLBC.

“The first step will be to identify the farmers and then gauge whether they have any credit facilities available to them”.

“This has been made difficult due to the lack of information available with the Agricultural department about the lack of farmers and their credit details. We have also not gained access to the data from various co-operative societies. This information is important as most farmers usually look to co-operative societies for financial support,” they said.

Six banks are sharing lead bank responsibilities in the 14 districts of the state. Canara Bank is the designated lead bank in Kozhikode, Thrissur, Wayanad, Malappuram and Palakkad while the State Bank of Travancore has charge of Kottayam, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta. Syndicate Bank is the lead bank in Kasargod and Kannur, the Union Bank of India in Ernakulam and Idukki and the Indian Bank in Kollam. The Indian Overseas Bank is coordinating activities in Thiruvananthapuram.