Question : LOAN TO FARMERS

(a) the provisions in regard to providing assistance to the farmers through the branches of State Bank of India which have been specially set up to ensure development in agriculture sector in rural areas;

(b) the number of such branches of the Bank in Jharkhand and the amount of assistance provided by each of them for agriculture purpose;

(c) the number of cases in which payments were not made even after sanctioning of loan; and

(d) the reasons therefore and the steps likely to be taken to make payment soon?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRl GINGEE N. RAMACHANDRAN )

(a): In terms of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular, banks have been advised that there should be at least one specialized Agricultural Finance Branch (SAFB) of a commercial bank in each State (set up by the convenors of the respective State Level Bankers Committee) to adequately deal with high-tech agricultural loans. Under the same, many banks have set up such SAFBs. RBI has reported that 61 SAFBs have been opened by banks as on March 2001.

(b): As reported by RBI, the details of the specialized agricultural branches of State Bank of India in Jharkhand State and the amount of outstanding credit given for agriculture purpose as on 31st March, 2001 is as under:

(Rs. in lakhs)
Branch Name	Centre Name	Amount OutstStandin	g
Rajmahal agri.
dev. bank	rajmahal	143.45 
daltonganj agri.
dev. bank	daltonganj	246.00

agr.mkt.
yard, dumka	dumka	2.29

garhwa	garhwa	222.28 

satbarwa	satbarwa	107.56