Chandigarh, March 3
Setting the ball rolling for the implementation of the Rs 60,000 crore crop loan waiver scheme, banks in Haryana have calculated the total outstanding agriculture loans to small and marginal farmers extended by banks at Rs 4,474.99 crore.
Official sources in the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) of Punjab informed The Tribune that though the extent of loan availed by farmers in Punjab was Rs 15,219 crore, they were yet to calculate the outstanding loan availed by small and marginal farmers. In Haryana, the farmers had availed a total loan of Rs 16,834 crore from various scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperative banks, informed officials in the SLBC, Haryana.
The extent of rural indebtedness in Punjab is much higher than the rural indebtedness in Haryana. According to figures released by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), Punjab has the third largest extent of indebtedness in India after Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. However, the magnitude of indebtedness in rural households of Punjab is the highest in the country with per capita debt of Rs 41,576. The use of loans for non-agriculture activities like marriages and social functions and the financial exclusion of small and marginal farmers have contributed to the high level of rural indebtedness in the state. An astounding 34.60 per cent of farmers in the state remain financially excluded and 37 per cent of these financially excluded farmers are small and marginal farmers, who have availed loans from private money lenders and commission agents.
In Haryana, the extent of rural indebtedness is 53 per cent, with an average outstanding loan of Rs 26,007. While 68 per cent of farmer households in Haryana approach institutional sources for their credit needs, 26 per cent of farmers still approach rural money lenders. While only 65 per cent of the
loan amount is spent on productive activities like agriculture and non-farm activities, the rest of the debt amount is spent on consumption expenditure, conspicuous consumptions like marriage and other social ceremonies.
Armed with the total outstanding agriculture loans, the SLBC has now asked all banks to also calculate the overdue loans as on December 31, 2007, and the loans that have not been paid back till February 29, 2008. Once the banks in the region have calculated these figures, the same will be passed on to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) so that the relief package can be completely rolled out by June 2008.
