RBI refinances 67.7 per cent of farm debt waiver claims

To date, the RBI has reimbursed SCBs and UCBs to the extent of 64.7 per cent of their 'debt waiver' claims under the Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008.

The scheme of agricultural debt waiver and debt relief for farmers with the total value of overdue loans being waived estimated at Rs50,000 crore and a one-time settlement (OTS) relief on the overdue loans estimated at Rs10,000 crore was announced in the Union Budget 2008-09.

Out of this, Rs28,000 crore was passed on to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for reimbursing the claims of regional rural banks (RRBs) and co-operatives and the remaining amount was earmarked for reimbursing the claims of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs), local area banks (LABs) and urban co-operative banks (UCBs).

Licensing of Co-operatives: The committee on financial sector assessment headed by former RBI deputy governor Rakesh Mohan and finance secretary Ashok Chawla as co-chairman had recommended that rural co-operative banks which fail to obtain a licence by 2012 should not be allowed to continue to operate. For achieving this objective in a non-disruptive manner, the RBI, in consultation with NABARD, has initiated action with regard to issuance of licences.

At present, 17 out of 31 state co-operative banks, and 296 out of 371 central co-operative banks are unlicensed.

Revival of rural co-operative credit structure: Based on the recommendations of the Vaidyanathan committee on revival of rural co-operative credit institutions and in consultation with the state governments, the Government of India had approved a package for revival of the short-term rural co-operative credit structure. So far, 25 states have entered into memoranda of understanding (MoU) with the Government of India and the NABARD.