Kisan Credit Card: Himachal Pradesh to Provide KCC to 5 lakh Farmers

4.36 lakh farmers in Himachal Pradesh will soon have access to Kisan Credit Card (KCC), and the state govt. has been set a target of reaching more than five lakh farmers. This was disclosed in Shimla at a meeting between chief secretary Ram Subhag Singh and the head of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), G R Chintala.

In the meeting, it was revealed that during the fiscal year 2021–2022, the priority sector received ground level credit flows totaling Rs. 20260.14 crore while the agriculture sector received credit flows totaling Rs. 8855.60 crore through Nabard. The accomplishment reached by Nabard within the annual credit plan remained 77.98 percent in 2021–2022.

In the state, crop loans totaling roughly Rs 7296.17 crore were disbursed in 2021–2022; the estimated credit potential for 2022–2023 was Rs 29,172 crore. For the state, the sanctions climbed from Rs 510.59 crore in the fiscal year 2017–18 to Rs 1134.33 crore in the fiscal year 2021–22. Under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), around Rs 1,134 crore have been approved for different development projects in 2021–2022, including the construction of poly-houses, ropeways, and sewerage projects.

The officials of the several departments and Nabard were tasked by the chief secretary with investigating the barriers to credit flow in the agricultural sector. Additionally, he requested that adequate measures be taken in Himachal Pradesh to enhance the Primary Weavers Cooperative Society (PWCS) and Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS).

About KCC

The Kisan Credit Card scheme, run by the Indian government, gives farmers quick access to credit. NABARD developed the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme, which was introduced in 1998 with the intention of giving farmers short-term formal credit.

To make sure that the credit requirements for farmers in the agricultural, fishery, and animal husbandry sectors were met, the KCC scheme was introduced. This was accomplished by assisting them in obtaining short-term loans and giving them a credit limit to use for equipment purchases as well as other expenses.