Shimla:The state government was striving to switch over to a 100 percent banking treasury system within a month in order to facilitate better cash management and control over treasury system, chief secretary Asha Swaroop stated here on Tuesday.
Speaking at the state level bankers committee meet, she said that only 14 sub-treasuries had been left to be converted into banking treasuries and this objective would be achieved soon.
Asking banks to address credit needs of the farming community, the chief secretary said that being the first state to have 100 percent financial inclusion should act as an impetus to introduce doorstep banking services by using modern technology.
She stated that the total agriculture credit during the financial year was expected to be more than Rs 2000 crore and to boost agriculture credit, the government had exempted Rs 10 Lakh from mortgage charges.
She urged the banks to coordinate a special drive to issue Kisan Credit Cards – General Credit cards to all farmers in the state. So far only 3.7 lakh credit cards had been issued against a total of about 12.5 lakh households in the state.
Annual credit plan for 2008-09 had been fixed at Rs 4230 crore and the first quarter achievement was Rs 993 crore, which was 23% of total target. Credit deposit ratio of Himachal Pradesh had increased to 56.73% against the national norm of 60%.
SK Goyal, Chairman and Managing Director UCO Bank who was present at the meet informed that the banks had disbursed a total credit of Rs 4655.20 crore against annual target of Rs. 3512 crore during 2007-08.
In the first quarter of the current financial year a credit of Rs 992 crore had been provided and had a target to disburse a credit of Rs 4230 crore for the year.
The banks had proposed to disburse Rs 1183 crore in the agriculture sector, Rs 2367 crore in the small and medium enterprise sector and Rs 680 crore in other sector during 2008-09, he said.
Total deposits with banks in the state had increased to Rs 24,126 crore at the end of June 08 where as the total outstanding loans stood at 12,265 crores.
Under the agriculture debt waiver, a relief amounting to Rs 279.70 crore had been provided to as many as 89542 farmers in the state, said Goel.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
