Srinagar, May 26: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Friday said that small and marginal farmers should be the top priority in implementation of Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP).
An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that chairing a high-level meeting to review the implementation of agriculture credit schemes of banking and financial institutions for HADP, the LG directed the bank officials and administrative officers for seamless coordination at district level for effective implementation of HADP and 100 percent saturation of benefits under the Kisan Credit Card and other central and J&K government schemes of agriculture and allied sector.
He also directed the bank officials to appoint a Nodal Officer for both Kashmir and Jammu divisions to monitor the cases received by banks under HADP and other schemes of agriculture and allied sector.
“Deputy Commissioners (DCs) should ensure FPOs are transformed into engines of growth and districts should compete to script success stories of such organisations,” Sinha said.
He said that 29 projects worth Rs 5013 crore under the HADP would have a transformative impact on the agriculture economy of J&K.
The LG also sought valuable inputs from the bank officials and impressed upon them to encourage other stakeholders to complement the government’s efforts in improving accessibility of farmers to the institutional sources of credit and further strengthening the agriculture and allied sector.
He also appraised the action taken on the directions passed in the previous meetings of the public sector banks, administrative departments, and other financial institutions.
Sinha directed the officers of the banks to simplify and streamline the processes of extending credit and financial assistance services to the farmers.
Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Production Department, Atal Dulloo gave a detailed briefing on the credit extension for scheme implementation in agriculture and allied sector.
Principal Secretary to LG Mandeep Kumar Bhandari and MD and CEO J&K Bank Baldev Prakash were also present in the meeting.
