Farmers in Vidharbha region of Maharashtra are facing financial difficulties as there are no bank loans available for them. Most of cooperative banks are reluctant to advance loans because they have failed to recover their previous loans, reports Times of India.
A source close to the cooperative banks says banks NPA shows no signs of reducing and their loans are in jeopardy of default once again. According to figures compiled by district central cooperative banks, total bad loans in the region stand at Rs. 3, 205 crore.
A source in the dept of cooperation reveals Yavatmal, notorious for being the farmers’ suicide capital, has Rs930 crore of the present bad loans. This is more than the farm loan lending target of Rs810 crore set for the Yavatmal District Central Cooperative Bank (YDCCB) this year. .
Sources in the cooperative banking sector say the situation has worsened because of two consequent years of crop losses, on account of excessive rains and then a drought. Even the rabi season, on which farmers bank to recover their losses, was marred by unseasonal rains in some pockets.
The cooperative department records put the number of defaulters at 1.17 lakh in Yavatmal. However, this is limited to the loans granted by Yavatmal DCCB.