Thiruvananthapuram:
Banks are planning to double agricultural credit disbursements
in Kerala within the next three years.
Agricultural
lending will be raised by 30 per cent during the current
financial year. To work out the exact modalities of the
programme, a meeting of the State Level Bankers Committee
(SLBC) will be held on June 30 under the chairmanship
of the chief minister, A.K. Antony.
These
decisions were taken at the 84th meeting of SLBC held
here on Thursday. The industries minister, P.K. Kunhalikutty,
inaugurated the meeting, which was chaired by MN. Kanthakumar,
executive director of Canara Bank.
It
was decided at the meeting that the "Akshaya"
project of the state government will be implemented throughout
the state with financial assistance from banks. Besides,
a scheme for setting up crèche/day care centres
will be taken up by the banks in consultation with the
social welfare department.
Another
decision was for launching a scheme by "Kudumbashree"
for creating employment opportunities to 50,000 youth
with credit linkages with banks. The meeting felt that
private sector banks, especially new generation ones,
should improve lending to the priority sectors such as
agriculture, small-scale industries and the weaker sections.
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