UCO Bank, with 61 branches (out of the total of 142 in the country) and 20,000 beneficiaries eligible for the waiver scheme in the state, is set to prepare, check, recheck and display the list in each branch by June 25.
The total loan waiver by UCO Bank will be approximately Rs 90 crore in the state.
Taking a step forward, Bank of Baroda (BoB) has distributed about 100 loan waiver certificates to the beneficiaries in Bahraich district earlier this month.
BoB has over 478 branches (out of the total of 615 in the country) in UP and Uttarakhand dedicated to implement the waiver scheme. The bank has also completed over 25 per cent of work concerning the preparation and final display of the list of beneficiaries. It is expected to complete 75 per cent work by next week.
BoB is also the convener of the state level Bankers' Committee in UP.
While the work in the public sector banks is progressing rapidly, regional rural banks (RRBs) and the cooperative credit institutions are just behind them.
"The process under the loan waiver scheme is progressing quiet rapidly and about 20 to 25 per cent of the work is already being done," Sukhhbir Singh, chief general manager, NABARD (Lucknow) told Business Standard. "We propose to complete it in the prescribed time frame as well," he added.
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has 12 RRBs and 50 Co-operatives under it in UP. The bank had earlier called a meeting of top officials of RRBs on May 30 to elucidate about the waiver scheme. A similar exercise was also conducted for the co-operative banks.
NABARD is the nodal agency for the implementation of the scheme in respect of the regional rural banks and cooperative credit institutions, while the Reserve Bank of India is the nodal agency in respect of commercial banks, urban cooperative banks, and local area banks.
For the better implementation of the scheme, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has appointed coordinators to speed up the loan waiver scheme in UP. These coordinators will oversee and supervise the functioning of the scheme in their respective districts.
The loan waiver by IOB to the tune of Rs 51.75 crore will benefit over 16,500 farmers in UP, where the bank has 29 and 16 branches in rural and semi-urban areas, respectively. IOB has total 114 branches in UP.
For the records, according to the guidelines issued by the Government of India under the Agriculture debt waiver and debt relief scheme, 2008, all small, marginal and other agriculturalists are eligible under the scheme to whom loan has been disbursed between March 31,1997, and March 31, 2007. Total overdue amount as on December 31 last year and remained unpaid as on February 29 this year will be the calculation criteria for debt waiver and debt relief.
Also to take note as to how the scheme is being conducted in the state, Shashank Saxena, director, Banking Operations, Department of Financial Services, Government of India will be in Lucknow shortly. He is scheduled to visit several districts including Raebareli, the constituency of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
Earlier, the chief executives of various banks visited UP to monitor the effective implementation of the scheme. Chairman and Managing Director of Allahabad Bank Avinash Chandra Mahajan and Executive Director KK Agarwal lead the team of officials who visited Raebareli, Unchahar, Sidhauli and Kumhrawan branches of Raebareli, Sitapur and Lucknow district.
Speaking about the initiative, Allahabad bank official informed that during their visit to the branches, the officials personally checked and verified the list of eligible borrowers and agriculturalists prepared by the branches so that all eligible borrower may get the relief according to the government of India norms and they have also ensured that no ineligible borrowers is included in the list.
