Annual Report - National Human Rights Commission

Complaints Before the Commission
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(g)
The Report also contains several recommendations made by the Expert Committee for
‘Study on Farmers’ Suicides’ vis-à-vis comments of the concerned departments of
the State Government of Karnataka on the recommendations made by the Expert
Commission.
4.160 The Union Ministry of Agriculture also indicated some measures initiated by the Union
Government for the welfare of farmers, namely,
(i)
that the Finance Minister announced on 18 th June 2004, a special package to provide
relief to farmers in distress due to the problem of indebtedness. Some of the salient
features of the package are: -
● Total flow of agricultural credit to be enhanced to about Rs.105,000 crore in 2004-05
representing a 30% increase over the flow of credit in the previous year;
●
Commercial banks will bring into their fold at least 100 new farmers at each rural and
semi - rural branch during the current year to enlarge borrowing from banks by about
50 lakh;
●
Each rural and semi-urban branch of commercial banks will take up two to three new
investment projects in the area of plantation and horticulture, fisheries, organic farming,
agro-processing, live stock, micro-irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, watershed management,
village ponds development and other agricultural activities;
●
In every district, all commercial banks put together will finance 10 agri-clinics during
the current year;
●
In order to provide credit to tenant farmers and oral lessees, NABARD will facilitate
formation and financing of self-help groups;
●
Scales of finance will be reviewed to meet the realistic credit needs of farmers, especially
capital-intensive agricultural operations;
(ii)
that the Reserve Bank of India has issued standing guidelines to the Banks for
providing relief to farmers in areas affected by natural calamities. These guidelines
envisage inter- alia: -
●
Conversion/rescheduling of loans in the event of natural calamity for periods ranging
from 3 to 9 years depending upon successive crop failures/intensity of damage to crops;
●
Grant of fresh crop loans to affected farmers;
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