Sangrur, July 20: Farmers in Sangrur and Barnala are compelled to borrow money at higher rates of interest from private moneylenders to meet their crop sowing expenses as cooperative societies in both districts have stopped releasing crop loan.
Sources said under Sangrur Central Cooperative Bank, there were a total of 296 cooperative societies, formed to help farmers by extending timely crop loans to prevent their exploitation by private moneylenders. But officials in these societies said almost a month ago, their senior authorities had told them not to release fresh crop loans. “On an average, a farmer spends around Rs. 20,000 per acre to sow paddy. But in the absence of crop loans from societies, which charge around 7 per cent rate of interest, we are forced to borrow money at 15-18 per cent from private moneylenders,” claimed Dharminder Pashore, Lehragaga block president, BKU Ugraha. Ramit Singhal, Chief Manager, Sangrur Central Cooperative Bank, confirmed that they were unable to release loans to farmers as the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) had not released the required money.”We have written to our seniors to take up the matter with NABARD to resolve the issue at the earliest,” he said.
News Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
