SHILLONG, March 29: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) projected Meghalaya’s credit potential for the year 2022-23 to be Rs 2,771 crore, which is 5.57 per cent higher than the projections made for the fiscal 2021-22 (Rs 2,594 crore).
This was unearthed during a State Credit Seminar organised by NABARD on Tuesday.
The credit estimation for Agriculture Sector has been projected at Rs 1,408 crore (51%), MSME Sector at Rs 1,031 crore (37%) and other priority sectors at Rs 332 crore (12%), according to a statement issued here.
The State Focus Paper, which provides a roadmap to bankers for direction and expansion of credit flow in the state of Meghalaya, was released in the hands of the chief guest, GHP Raju, Principal Secretary, Cooperation department.
The seminar was also attended by Dr Vijay Kumar D, Commissioner & Secretary Planning and Finance, PK Agrahari, Secretary, Finance, P Gangte of RBI, R Chitturi, Finance, Jt. Secretary & CEO MSRLS, Amit Kumar, DGM, SLBC and senior-level officials from the state government, banks, NGOs, etc.
In his address, GHP Raju stressed on identification of demand activities undertaken by self-help groups/farmers/entrepreneurs and advised the banks to accord special focus by extending collateral-free loans. He also expressed the need for computerisation of Picture Archiving and Communication System/Integrated Village Cooperative Societies (IVCSs) for expanding credit flow.
Meanwhile, Dr Vijay Kumar D emphasised on the unique local circumstances to do business in the state and challenged the banks to create enabling norms for business ecosystem for Meghalaya.
AWARDS
Moreover, in a bid to acknowledge and felicitate the role of grassroots functionaries and institutions, awards were conferred upon two ‘Best SHGs’, two bank branches in SHG Linkage, two ‘Best Business Correspondents’, two ‘Best IVCS’ and a special award to Meghalaya Rural Bank as leading partner in developmental interventions, the statement informed.
The unique interventions of the Meghalaya government were taken up for open forum discussion during the seminar for accelerating credit flow.
These interventions include Integrating Farmers Identity Card (FIC) with banking system, Affiliation of IVCS with Cooperative Credit System and leveraging Business Correspondent model with handholding support from the government for better reach to unbanked villages in the state.