(a) the target set by various scheduled banks for providing loans to small and marginal
farmers and agricultural sector in Rajasthan during the last three years alongwith
the target achieved;
(b) whether small farmers are facing difficulties in getting loans from banks; and
(c) if so, the steps taken by the Government to provide adequate loans to farmers in
the State for deve lopment of agricultural sector?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI V. DHANANJAYA KUMAR) :
(a) As per the extant policy of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), all scheduled commercial
banks in the country are required to lend 18 percent of their net bank credit for
agriculture under the priority sector. Though no specific targets have been fixed for
providing loans to small and marginal farmers, they are included under the targets fixed
for agriculture and weaker sections. However, the data relating to loans outstandings to
small and marginal farmers in Raiasthan during the last three years, as reported by RBI,
is as under :
Year ended Loans Outstanding (Rs. in crore) June 1996 207.37 June 1997 211.19 June 1998 247.25