Chennai: Cooperatives minister Sellur K. Raju, who reviewed the operations of cooperative credit societies (COS) and Central Cooperative Banks (CCBs), on Tuesday said the business activities of farmers and villagers associated with cooperatives had been badly affected without any financial transactions due to demonetisation.
A press release from the secretariat said that the minister, who conducted a high level meeting with the regional managers and officers associated with Agriculture Cooperative Credit Societies and Central Cooperative Banks, expressed his concern over the Centre's demonetisation scrapping the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes and admitted that the move had adversely affected the farmers.
The minister also explained that the societies were unable to disburse crop loans at a time when samba paddy crop cultivation was underway in Tamil Nadu.
Villagers have savings accounts in credit societies, but could not deposit the demonetised notes and are unable to receive new loans despite the cooperative societies enjoying fixed deposits running to the tune of Rs 54,000 crore, the release said.
The demonetisation had not only affected the commercial growth of farmers, but had brought hardship to the rural poor. Many services like provision of seeds and receiving premium on crop loans in over 4,300 COS are paralysed as there is no cash transaction in the societies and CCBs. The entire 23 district CCBs and 813 of their branches and lakhs of their customers have been affected. And the Centre’s decision will also affect the target of crop loan disbursal for the year pegged to be around Rs 6,000 crore.
As of November 7, 2016, Rs 2,075.41 crore has been disbursed to over 3.38 lakh farmers as against Rs 3,512.80 crore to over 6.38 lakh farmers last year during this time, the release said.
