To provide easy credit to agriculturists, the Uttar Pradesh government will take proactive steps to create awareness on the cooperative banking sector among the state farmers.
Of the total network of about 12,000 banks in Uttar Pradesh, including public, private, cooperative and regional rural banks (RRBs), almost 1,700 belong to the cooperative sector.
In a recent review meeting of the UP Sahkari Gram Vikas Bank (UPSGVB), which has 325 branches, state Cooperative Minister Babu Singh Kushwaha had directed officials to facilitate information about the cooperatives to farmers.
In the last three years, the share capital of UPSGVB had zoomed over 85 per cent from Rs 254 crore to Rs 471 crore. The private capital also increased from Rs 422 crore to Rs 457 crore with the total number of the bank members jumping to 133,000 from 120,000, he informed.
He said the bank took steps to arrest the fall in loan recovery by revamping the accounts, especially after the waiver of agricultural loans by the Centre. The recovery in 2009-10, stood at 44 per cent against 38 per cent in 2008-09, which was 6 per cent higher and resulted in a better cash position.
However, it was below the average recovery in the agriculture sector at 67 per cent. The other major cooperative bank, UP Cooperative Bank, has a recovery of over 50 per cent.
Meanwhile, the bank has set up 202 Farmers’ Club in UP in association with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural development (NABARD).
To generate additional income, UPSGVB took Rs 40 crore as term deposits in the last three years. The minister said the bank was undergoing a corporate transformation and ushering in computerisation and congenial working environment for better banking services to customers.
In UP, the advances to the agriculture sector during 2009-10 stood at Rs 46,000 crore, which was almost 31 per cent of the total advances during the year and fared handsomely against the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) benchmark of 18 per cent.