In a letter written to Finance minister P Chidambaram, Dhumal pointed out that in a number of cases under the provisions of the scheme, many beneficiaries would be deprived of availing the benefits unless necessary amendments were carried and restrictions of reimbursement to the credit institutions removed.
Himachal happened to be a hilly state where marginal farmers have limited land holdings and majority consisted of the small and marginal farmers, an official release quoted him as saying today.
Primary agriculture cooperative societies needed to be permitted full reimbursement of the rate of interest over the loans it had disbursed to farmers for 2006-07 as also prior to the period, he said.
Societies had disbursed crop loans to farmers out of its own funds on an average interest of 10 per cent with 2 per cent penal interest on default, whereas under the scheme only 7 per cent interest had been allowed to be reimbursed, leaving funding societies in loss of 3 to 5 per cent interest rate.
Dhumal said the scheme does not cover the loans advanced for the purpose subservient to agriculture such as construction of cow sheds, packing and grading houses, fencing, power tillers and rural godowns etc which needed to be brought under the fold of the scheme.
