Coop banks asked to disburse Rs 7k cr kharif crop loans by Sept

Bhubaneswar: With the deadline for disbursal of kharif crop loan approaching fast, the Registrar of Cooperative Societies wrote to cooperative banks to lend Rs 7,000 crore loans to farmers by September 30.

As per the letter written on Monday, Rs 5,499 crore kharif loan amount has been sanctioned to 15,056,228 farmers till date this season.

In Malkangiri, 52% of the total approved loan amount has been given to farmers while 68% crop loan has been disbursed in Koraput. Only in Boudh, 100% loan amount has been disbursed among farmers.

On the other hand, farmers alleged they are facing difficulties to get crop loans.

Natabar Patnaik, a farmer from Koraput, said “Though I visited several banks to get a loan, I did not get a positive response anywhere.”

Somari Madhi, a sharecropper, alleged, “We are unable to get crop loans at a time when the State government is making tall claims of farm loan.”

Sources said strike of cooperative societies’ staff across the State demanding regularisation of jobs will affect the government plans to meet the loan disbursal target.

Pritam Kumar Mishra, a Cooperation department staff, Bolangir, said, “Why our jobs have not been regularised yet despite the fact that we play major role in providing crop loan to farmers?”

Putting aside the demands made by the striking employees, Cooperation Minister Surya Narayan Patro said, “They want to be accredited as government cadre staff. But the Swaminathan Commission clearly says that cooperative societies are independent organizations and not government bodies.”