RBI to provide Rs 70 cr daily to DCCBs for farmers in Odisha

With the farmers facing hardship due to the demonetisation, the RBI has decided to provide around Rs 70 crore to the District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) in Odisha on a daily basis to meet the requirement of farmers, said an official on Thursday.

It would provide the money to the DCCBs with regard to crop loan, paddy procurement proceeds and crop insurance claim.

Taking a review meeting on the currency situation in the state, Development Commissioner R. Balakrishnan advised Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials to supply more currency to the DCCBs, which advance near about 65 per cent of the crop loans in Odisha against the national average of 16 per cent.

This year, the target is to advance Rs 5,000 crore of crop loan to the farmers during the current Rabi season. In addition, Rs 1, 776 crore have been disbursed through cooperative banks to the farmers towards insurance claim of Kharif crop, said a release.

Apart from that, around Rs 100 crore are being disbursed to the farmers accounts towards paddy procurement proceeds on a daily basis, said a release.

It is expected that supply of Rs 65 to 70 crore per day to the DCCBs would cater to the immediate needs of the famers, the release said.

The issues relating to deposit of money in Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts also figured in the meeting. Some of the accounts opened under PMJDY were found not fully KYC compliant for which more than Rs 50,000 could not be deposited in these accounts.

The farmers, due to get more than Rs 50,000 towards the cost of their paddy, faced this problem.

It was decided in the meeting that Aadhaar card issued to the farmers would be used to make the accounts KYC-compliant.