Milk cooperative unions in Gujarat have raised complaints about banks being reluctant to sanction Kisan Credit Cards (KCC), exclusively meant for animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries sectors, according to a latest report by the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC), Gujarat.
The report further states, “SLBC is also in the receipt of numerous representations from lead district managers about reluctance of DCCBs (District Central Cooperative Banks) in accepting and processing KCC Animal Husbandry applications.”
While only 2.3 per cent of the KCC loan applications for animal husbandry have been sanctioned in Gujarat, a dismal 0.9 per cent of the applications by fishermen have so far received loan approvals from banks.
The percentage of rejected applications are also higher than the sanctioned applications, states the report while mentioning about the expanded scheme that provides collateral-free loans up to Rs 1.6 lakh
Explaining the situation, SLBC Gujarat convenor and General Manager Bank of Baroda, M.M. Bansal said: “Banks have not declined the requests. There are a couple of issues causing delay in sanctioning loans under KCC. The District Central Cooperative Banks have around 70 per cent account of milk farmers. For financing under KCC, the applicant must be a member of primary agriculture cooperative society or PACS. It takes time to process. In some cases, the applications were not filed properly.”
Of the 75,297 applications received for KCC animal husbandry in Gujarat, 1,752 applications (2.3%) were sanctioned, while 8,229 (11%) were rejected. The performance for KCC fisheries is even dismal. Of the 4,197 applications received by the banks, only 38 were sanctioned (0.9%), while 104 applications (2.5%), were rejected.
Asking the Gujarat government, NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) and GSCB (Gujarat State Cooperative Bank) to issue suitable directions to DCCBs in this regard, the report said cooperative banks have sizeable accounts of beneficiaries being credited for deposit of sale proceeds of milk by district milk unions.
