Kerala to be total banking state by June

Come June this year, Kerala will achieve the status of total banking state.

An action plan to this effect has been chalked out by the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC), which says that every household in the state would have at least one bank account and would be eligible for a general-purpose loan of up to Rs 25,000.

Significantly, Palakkad district in the state has become the first district in the country to achieve 100 percent financial inclusion.

According to Alok K Misra , executive director, Canara Bank, who chaired a meeting of the SLBC here, Kerala's credit-deposit ratio (CD ratio) has touched 68.21 per cent, which meant an increase of 25 percentage points over the March 2001 figures.

The committee has also decided to fully implement the relief package for farmers in Wyanad, Palakkad and Kasargod districts in the state by March 2007. Already 30 per cent of total interest on farm loan, to be waived, has been completed by banks.

The banks in the state have also been directed to ensure that agriculture sector in the state gets loans to the tune of Rs 9,645 crore during 2006-07. A working group would be set up to finalise the action plan for credit flow to the agriculture sector during the 11th plan, said an SLBC source.

It was also pointed out that the commercial banks in the state had written off loans amounting to Rs 88 lakh availed by 240 farmers.

The SLBC has also appealed to the government to reimburse the individual liabilities above Rs 1 lakh as promised.

Co-operative banks have also written off loans availed by those farmers who since committed suicide, it added.