Minister for Cooperation S.T. Somashekar on Monday said Kodagu’s cooperative banks had been impressive in their performance as loan repayment by borrowers in these institutions was almost 99 per cent and they were among the State’s top cooperative institutions where loan repayment was remarkable.
As many as 10 cooperative institutions in Kodagu had completed 100 years of their services and every such institution in the district had an impressive record in loan repayment, he added.
Speaking after inaugurating the centenary celebrations of Kushalnagar PLD Bank in Kushalnagar, he said 21 DCC banks in the State were in profit and added that the State had 5,477 PLD Banks. In Kushalnagar bank, there had been an increase in deposits, membership, working capital, and profit in the last five years.
Mr. Somashekar said ₹6,270 crore loan taken by farmers had been waived and waiver of ₹167 crore was pending. Those who had taken loans up to ₹6,000 had got loan waiver and that of those who had taken loans between ₹50,000 and ₹ 1 lakh was pending.
Admitting that the loan waiver had been delayed for various reasons, the Minister said the loan waiver of 31,000 farmers was pending as they could not submit documents. “The Chief Minister will take a decision on waiving their loans too.”
Stating that ₹24,000 crore loans would be disbursed to 33 lakh farmers in the State this year, Mr. Somashekar said that three lakh new farmers had been added to the list of borrowers. “The government had released the allocation for loan disbursement to the DCC banks. However, the government itself was asking them why the loans haven’t been disbursed yet,” he told the gathering.
The Minister also announced that the Yeshasvini health insurance scheme would be reintroduced soon, with suitable changes.
Mr. Somashekar also announced that the Nandini Ksheera Samriddhi Banks were being set up for the benefit of 26 lakh milk producers in the State. Credit cards were being issued to nine lakh women from NABARD for availing loans. “There will be no impact of this bank (Nandini Samrudhi Banks) on the DCC banks,” he clarified.
“Farmers will not approach nationalised banks for loans if the DCC banks give loans as per farmers’ needs,” he said.
The Minister also announced that a new software would be launched for the operation of PLD banks. Loan details in those banks could be easily accessed through the new software.
Minister in-charge of Kodagu district B.C. Nagesh, and Appachu Ranjan, MLA, were among those present.
The Kushalnagar PLD Bank was set up on June 27 in 1921. It started with 126 members and today it has 3,496 members. The bank has deposits of ₹4,129.60 lakh.
