Hyderabad: The Reserve Bank of India has told TS finance department officials that it is not possible to disburse loans to farmers in cash, though it will try to do so. On the directions of finance minister Etela Rajendar, finance department officials met with RBI officials on Wednesday. For the ongoing Kharif season, the State-Level Bankers Committee has fixed the target of loans to farmers at Rs 39,762 crore. So far, banks have sanctioned loans of only about Rs 1,400 crore.
Farmers are demanding that the loans be disbursed in cash as they are unable to withdraw the money through ATMs. Banks are telling farmers that they do not have the cash to disburse. The meeting was held in this backdrop. RBI officials told TS officials that farmers must spend the money through digital transactions. However, farmers have complained to the government that some banks are not sanctioning loans.
The TS government has set a of 90.89 lakh tonnes of food grains for the Kharif and Rabi seasons this year. Bank officials are asking farmers why are not using digital transactions and why they are insisting on cash. A bank official said that some farmers use the money lent by banks for other purposes as the interest on farm loans is very low. Farm loans should be utilised only for farming activities. If farmers opt for digital transactions, it will known for what purpose they spent the money for, a bank official said. It is difficult to track cash transactions. He said this may be the reason that farmers are insisting on cash payments. TS officials said that the RBI had told them that they would try to disburse the loans in cash if possible.
