The 82nd Annual General Meeting of apex lending agency to cooperatives- NCDC was held at Krishi Bhawan in New Delhi with top leaders but without farmers on Tuesday. While the Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh was gaga over NCDC’s performance, those who look up to the NCDC for funding looked unimpressed.
Singh said during the current financial year 2017-18 the NCDC not only continued its excellent performance, but also made a record surpassing its annual target in the first 6 months. It sanctioned Rs. 25270 crore and disbursed assistance of Rs.15915 crore. Singh went on to say that in the last three years, the Corporation also registered a growth of 254% in releasing its financial assistance to cooperatives.
Zero NPA and loan recovery rate of 99.66% may look good for auditing purposes but it counts for nothing when it comes to delivering services to the needy co-ops.
What the Minister and NCDC’s top honchos fail to realize is the fact that unless the Corporation eases its lending terms majority of co-operatives would remain beyond its ambit. The matter has forcefully been explained in these columns in the past through a story titled “Not a single project cleared by NCDC in 3 yrs”( https://www.indiancooperative.com/featured/not-a-single-project-cleared-by-ncdc-in-3-yrs/)
The funding rules of NCDC are so stringent that it can give loan to an individual only when the state govt stands guarantee for him. Given the pace of bureaucratic processing it is no wonder the NCDC inevitably fails to reach out to the needy.
The state govt and local politicians would always say “see, we are eager to help you but it’s NCDC which is not coming forward and the NCDC would say the same accusing the state govt”, said a cooperator from Maharashtra wondering where could they go to get help.
NCDC can give loan directly only in cases where a co-operative has been in profit for three consecutive years and has enough assets to pledge. Majority of budding co-ops with best of intentions fail to fulfill these criteria. “NCDC is for the haves and not for the have-nots”, they argue.
Singh, however, never tires of emphasizing the role of cooperatives in ensuring remunerative income for farmers and hopes to achieve double income for farmers by 2022. Ironically, the minister said once again the NCDC will continue to play a pivotal role in the development of cooperatives in the larger interest of farmers and rural population.
Besides the Minister and the NCDC officials, Sahakar Bharati patron Satish Marathe and IFFCO MD Dr U S Awasthi also participated in the AGM. AGM was also informed about the decision to upgrade the NCDC Training Institute at Gurugram as a national level institute and rename it as Laxmanrao Inamdar Academy for Cooperative Studies and Human Resource Management.
