Jammu: Under the rolled-out Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL) scheme – part of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package for businesses/ MSMEs affected by the ongoing pandemic – the banks operating In the Union Territory of J&K have sanctioned Rs 914 Cr in favour of 24000 beneficiaries. The Scheme wherein 20% additional funding of outstanding credit as on 29th February, 2020 is provided by banks to eligible MSMEs/ business enterprises is likely to benefit 3.20 lakh eligible borrowers in the UT of J&K qualifying for an additional credit of Rs 2600 Cr. This was stated Tuesday at a special meeting of J&K Union Territory-Level Bankers’ Committee (UTLBC) in Jammu chaired by the Chief Secretary J&K Government B V R Subrahmanyam (IAS)to discuss initiatives and measures under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
Financial Commissioner (Finance) Dr Arun Kumar Mehta (IAS), Principal Secretary (Housing and Urban Development) Dheeraj Gupta (IAS), Principal Secretary (Agriculture Production/Animal/Sheep Husbandry/Fisheries) Navin Kumar Choudhary (IAS), Principal Secretary (Revenue), Dr Pawan Kotwal (IAS), Chairman J&K Bank (Convener J&K UTLBC) R K Chhibber, Regional Director Reserve Bank of India, Thomas Mathew, Commissioner/Secretary, Labour& Employment Saurabh Bhagat (IAS) and other senior functionaries of State Government, RBI, NABARD, Banks and Insurance Companies attended the meeting. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Secretary said, “The measures announced by the Government of India under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan are key to the revival of the economy, which has been adversely affected during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Emphasizing that the scheme is time-bound and shall cease to exist after 31st October, 2020 or exhaustion of specified fund allocation, the Chief Secretary said that the banks should expedite sanctioning of cases under GECL, so that all the eligible borrowers in UT of J&K are benefitted. “J&K Government has already constituted various Task Forces for implementation of initiatives, schemes and relief measures under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan”, he added.
Stating that the components of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan are mostly related to the bank credit with defined timelines and specified fund allocations, he impressed upon the banks and the Government agencies to be proactive and work in a coordinated manner for timely and successful implementation of already rolled out Schemes. The additional funding is aimed at meeting the operational liability built up, procuring raw material and restarting businesses. He also advised all the stakeholders to be in a state of preparedness for implementation of the schemes, which are being rolled out by Govt. of India under the Abhiyan. Earlier at the outset, Convenor UTLBC, Chairman and Managing Director J&K Bank R K Chhibber welcomed the participants and informed the house that the special UTLBC was being called for monitoring the measures taken in the direction of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
During the deliberations in the meeting, the house was informed that the Special Credit Facility for Street Vendors with an initial working capital up to Rs.10,000/- which has been announced by GoI under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, shall be rolled out by the banks on 1st of July, 2020. In J&K, around 30,000 Street Vendors are likely to be benefitted under the Scheme with a total aggregate disbursement of Rs. 30 Crore by 31st August, 2020.
With a view to increase credit flow to Agriculture Sector and bring all the farmers of the UT including those associated with Allied Agricultural Activities, viz. Dairy, Sheep, Fisheries, Poultry etc. within the ambit of revised Kissan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme, the house also stipulated to scale up coverage of farmers under KCC to ensure saturation of 10 lakh PM Kissan beneficiaries, with 2.5 lakh fresh KCCs to be issued by 15th July, 2020. The house also approved a target to cover 75,000 farmers associated with Allied Agricultural Activities under KCC Scheme.
In order to give a fillip to issuance of KCCs, the house was informed that the Agriculture Production Department is organizing “Kissan Pakhwada” from 7th July, 2020 across the UT of J&K. During the fortnight the banks will focus on issuance of KCCs accepting/examining the applications for rural credit and final disbursal in next two weeks. All HODs of concerned departments shall associate themselves with the “Kissan Pakhwada” and help eligible beneficiaries to approach bank branches for issuance of KCCs.
The house observed that the progress achieved in Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) under Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana (PMAY) was not satisfactory. Assigning a target of covering 7000 beneficiaries by August, 2020, the Chief Secretaryimpressed upon the banks and Housing & Urban Development Department to identify the bottlenecks and take necessary measures for creating awareness among the people to avail benefits of the Scheme. He also advised to provide credit-linkage to all Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) by 31st August, 2020.
On the occasion, various Sub-Committees were formed to suggest measures for improving performance under Primary Sector, CLSS and Self Help Group Schemes.
In his concluding remarks, the Chief Secretary impressed upon banks and all other stakeholders to put in their collective efforts to revive the economy of UT of J&K back to its normal under the aegis of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
