Latest news with #SHG-BankLinkageProgramme
Time of India
18-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
NABARD marks 44 years of rural empowerment
NABARD 's New Delhi Regional Office marked the occasion of 44th Foundation Day with a commemorative event graced by Rohit P. Das, Regional Director, RBI New Delhi, as the Chief Guest, and Shailendra Singh Parihaar, Special Secretary (Finance), Govt. of NCT of Delhi, as the Keynote Speaker. The occasion also witnessed the presence of Hara Gopal Yandra, Managing Director, NABCONS, Mashar Velapurath, Managing Director, AFC India Ltd., Rajesh Kumar, General Manager, SLBC Delhi, and Natarajan Ramachandran, General Manager, SIDBI as Guests of Honour, alongside several dignitaries, officials, and staff from NABARD, NABCONS and partner institutions. The celebrations began with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp, followed by the cutting of a commemorative cake by the dignitaries. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category others Cybersecurity Technology Data Science Management Healthcare Others Public Policy CXO MCA Data Analytics Digital Marketing Project Management MBA Design Thinking Artificial Intelligence PGDM Data Science Degree Product Management healthcare Operations Management Finance Leadership Skills you'll gain: Duration: 16 Weeks Indian School of Business CERT - ISB Cybersecurity for Leaders Program India Starts on undefined Get Details In his welcome address, Nabin Kumar Roy, GM/OIC, NABARD New Delhi Regional Office, reflected on NABARD's four-decade-long journey in transforming the rural landscape. He highlighted the institution's pioneering efforts in shaping rural finance and agriculture through innovations like SHG-Bank Linkage Programme (SHG-BLP) and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs). He also emphasized NABARD's role in realizing the vision of "Sahakar se Samriddhi" of the Ministry of Cooperation by promoting reforms such as PACS computerisation, conversion of PACS into Multi-Service Centres, and initiatives like Sahakar Saarthi and Common Service Centres. He also shared his vision for expanding Geographical Indication (GI) registration support and touched upon the emerging potential of heritage financing in enriching the rural development landscape. Hara Gopal Yandra, MD NABCONS in his address, reminiscence on his journey of almost three decades in NABARD and shared insights into NABARD's work in direct financing, refinancing and development sectors for strengthening the rural institutional framework. Shailendra Singh Parihaar, Special Secretary (Finance), GNCTD, lauded NABARD for its grassroots-level impact and compared its work to that of ancient Rishi-Munis, preserving livelihoods and ecosystems by blending agriculture with modern technology. He expressed a keen interest in fostering convergence between GNCTD and NABARD for future collaborative initiatives and assured full support from the State Government. Live Events Rohit P. Das, Regional Director, RBI, extended his heartfelt congratulations to NABARD on its 44th Foundation Day and lauded its distinguished role as a premier development financial institution. He highlighted NABARD's significant contributions in the areas of rural infrastructure development, ground-level credit delivery, and supervision of rural cooperative banks, all of which are instrumental to accelerating agricultural and rural progress. He expressed the need for better alignment between the Potential Linked Credit Plan (PLP) and the Annual Credit Plan (ACP) targets across the State to ensure a more uniform and effective priority sector lending strategy. Emphasizing the importance of inclusive growth, he noted NABARD's pivotal role in harnessing India's demographic dividend and enduring commitment to rural prosperity, expressing hope for continued success in contributing to the vision of Viksit Bharat @ 2047.
Hindustan Times
09-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
SC committee, NABARD discuss steps to ease farmers' woes
The high-powered committee constituted by the Supreme Court to look into farmers' issues held a meeting with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on Tuesday on ways to ease farmer distress. The meeting was held at the committee's office in Panchkula and attended by Shaji KV, chairman of NABARD. (HT) One of the main stakeholders in improving farmers' conditions, NABARD is an apex development bank to promote sustainable and equitable agriculture and rural development. The meeting was held at the committee's office in Panchkula and attended by Shaji KV, chairman of NABARD. Formed in September 2024 to resolve farmers' issues, the committee, headed by former Punjab and Haryana high court judge Nawab Singh, questioned NABARD over a host of issues: Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs); enhancing farmer income and cold-chain infrastructure. NABARD officials told the committee that the strategy to enhance farmers' income was rooted in financial inclusion, agri-value chain development, sustainable infrastructure and livelihood diversification. The committee is reported to have confronted the NABARD, questioning, 'Why not put the policy on ease of doing farming on par with the ease of doing business.' When the committee wanted to know the concrete steps relating to farming distress, NABARD said it had been promoting as many as 7,400 FPOs across the country. On this, the committee quipped: 'What is the outcome of promoting FPOs given various challenges.' The committee highlighted that ground reports suggested that many FPOs were lying defunct and there was a need to revisit the programme. 'Over the past few months, various stakeholders have, through representations before the committee, mentioned large-scale failure of FPOs. We asked the officials from NABARD regarding any plans to revisit the scheme,' one of the committee members told HT. NABARD, however, said it was a workable model for small and marginal farmers amid the challenges of effective implementation at the ground level. 'NABARD has promoted over 7,400 FPOs involving 27. 53 lakh farmers — 82% of whom are small/marginal — ensuring better market access and income. Banks disbursed ₹1.96 lakh crore under the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme in FY2025 benefiting 17 crore rural households with affordable credit,' said an official of NABARD during the meeting. We are inviting all stakeholders: Committee The committee claimed that they had been doing everything they could and inviting all stakeholders over the past few months to address the issue of farmer distress. The committee members, agricultural scientist Devinder Sharma; former Haryana DGP BS Sandhu; economist Dr RS Ghuman and member-secretary Dr Amit Kumar Agrawal; were present in the meeting. This panel of experts was constituted by a Supreme Court bench, headed by justice Surya Kant, to recommend comprehensive reforms in the agrarian sector with the aim of improving farmer welfare. Earlier in May, the committee had also held discussions with the Kerala agriculture minister to examine state's fruit and vegetables support programme, and the concept of Farmers' Debt Relief Commission.
