CM releases NABARD’s State Focus Paper for 2023-24
By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 3 Jan: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami participated in the State Credit Seminar 2023-24 organised by NABARD at a local hotel today. On this occasion, he also released the State Focus Paper 2023-24 prepared by NABARD. For 2023-24, NABARD has assessed a credit potential of Rs 30,301 crore in the priority sector for the state of Uttarakhand, which is 6.22 percent more than last year.
Expressing gratitude to NABARD for preparing a loan scheme amounting to more than Rs 30,000 crores, Dhami said that this would boost the development of agriculture, horticulture and small and medium sector industries in Uttarakhand. He added that the loan potential would prove effective in increasing the livelihood of farmers, people engaged in horticulture, and small scale industries. The CM also stressed on the need for proper monitoring and transparency, so that the needy people do not face any problem in taking loans and to ensure that the common people can take full advantage of the schemes.
He added, “Banks have the biggest role in making loans easily accessible to the needy and deserving people. Banks will have to pay attention that these people do not have to wander unnecessarily for loan related formalities. For this, banks will have to work in mission mode. For the allocation of this loan scheme, each bank branch will have to work with certain targets. Development and progress are possible in rural areas only through investment and loans. It is also essential for our reverse exodus mission. The government is constantly working to strengthen basic amenities, roads and connectivity in rural areas. For this, continuous support is also being received from NABARD. Last year itself, NABARD approved 4515 projects worth Rs 10,000 crores to Uttarakhand.”
The Chief Minister added that the government is continuously working on making the state’s infrastructure strong and modern, so that investment increases in rural as well as urban areas. He said that special attention should be paid to increasing loan allocation in three loan deficient districts of Rudraprayag, Bageshwar and Tehri.
He emphasised that, apart from the banks, the state government is also implementing schemes like subsidies, credit linked schemes, etc. Schemes like Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Tourism Self Employment Scheme, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Cooperative Farmer Welfare Scheme, and Chief Minister Self Employment Schemes are being implemented through this initiative. The Chief Minister said that the geographical conditions in different districts of Uttarakhand are different. Keeping in mind these geographical conditions, the plans would have to be implemented properly.
The Chief Minister added, “Whatever proposals are made by India at the international level under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, serious decisions are also taken on them. India is chairing the G20 summit this year. This is a good opportunity for the country to promote ‘Local for Global’. Two important meetings of G20 are also proposed in Uttarakhand. On India’s proposal, the United Nations General Assembly has also declared the year 2023 as the International Millet Year. This will give a rapid boost to our coarse grains. I am grateful to Prime Minister Modi for the approval given by the Government of India to purchase Mandua at the minimum support price.”
Agriculture Minister Ganesh Joshi congratulated NABARD for organising the State Credit Seminar and praised all the developmental works. He emphasised on keeping middlemen away from farmers’ products and on value addition efforts.
Cooperative Minister Dr Dhan Singh Rawat congratulated NABARD for the State Focus Paper and said that its funded mobile (banking) vans to District Cooperative Banks during Covid-19 proved a boon through which banking facilities could be provided in remote areas of the state.
In the seminar, Regional Director of Reserve Bank of India, Lata Vishwanath said that NABARD had diligently prepared the State Focus Paper and it is now the responsibility of all the banks to implement the schemes. Sunil Kaushik, General Manager, shared the various activities of NABARD through a presentation.
Present on this occasion were Additional Chief Secretary Anand Vardhan, Officer-in-Charge of NABARD Dr Suman Kumar, DGM Nirmal Kumar, Convener of SLBC, Narendra Rawat, Secretaries R Meenakshi Sundaram, BVRC Purushottam and Dilip Jawalkar and HODs of various departments.
