Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has requested for the early release of funds to provide relief to the Nilam cyclone hit areas, and said that the loss caused by the cyclone has been assessed preliminarily at about Rs. 1550 crores. He was speaking at the joint meeting of Chief Ministers and Chief Executives of public sector banks and financial institutions at Bengaluru on Tuesday.
The Chief Minister thanked the Central government for increasing crop-loan targets to Rs. 1 lakh crores. He requested the Central government to extend the interest-subvention scheme to rescheduled crop loans, also including licensed cultivators. He also requested for the reduction of premium rates under the National Agricultural Insurance Schemes (NAIS).
Kiran Kumar Reddy also requested that the interest-subvention scheme be made applicable to Stree Nidhi. He said that banks are reluctant to sanction bridge loans to the beneficiaries, and that this was hampering the progress of housing programmes in Andhra Pradesh. He requested the Chairmen of banks to meet the credit requirements of the deserving sections. He requested the top management of the bank to take steps to fill up the credit gap to the minorities.
The Chief Minister informed that the state government was implementing several welfare schemes for the benefit of Minority Communities including scholarships for students. Under PM’s 15-Point Programme for the welfare of minorities, a target of 15% within priority-sector loans from banks has been stipulated, which is to be achieved by the end of March 2010. Though the disbursal of loans is improving, banks are unable to reach the target of 15% in priority sector lending. The achievement is only around 7.50%.
He requested the top managements of banks to take urgent steps to fill up the credit gap to the minorities. (INN)