Not to be published/broadcast Before 18th June,    2007 

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is supplementing efforts of Government in development of rural areas of the State by providing finances and also acting as a coordinator in the operation of rural credit institutions the State. It was set up as an apex Development Bank for facilitating credit flow for promotion and development of agriculture, small-scale industries, cottage and village industries, handicrafts and other rural crafts. It also supports all other allied economic activities in rural areas, promote integrated and sustainable rural development and secure prosperity of rural areas.

The financial aid extended by NABARD in Himachal Pradesh during      2006-07, both under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) and Investment Credit, aggregated Rs. 420.20 crore. For the first time, RIDF sanctions in the State crossed the Rs. 250 crore mark with disbursements at     Rs. 140 crore which is an all time high.

A total number of 385 projects were sanctioned under RIDF during 2006-07 involving a loan assistance of Rs. 274 crore which represents a growth of 21.9 percent in RIDF loans sanctioned to the State Government over      2005-06. The disbursements under RIDF amounted to Rs. 140 crore during 2006-07 as compared to Rs. 125 crore in 2005-06.

Since inception of RIDF, NABARD has sanctioned a total number of 3512 projects to State Government with a loan assistance of Rs. 1513.33 crore. An amount of Rs. 986.20 crore had been disbursed to the State Government upto  31 March 2007. Major portion of the loan has been given for Roads and Bridges to facilitate better rural connectivity. In addition to this, other sectors benefitted are Irrigation, Watershed and Flood Protection works.

NABARD has provided refinance support of Rs. 146 crore in Himachal Pradesh during the year 2006-07 to various banks to facilitate various investment activities in farm and non-farm sector. Under the Government of India’s announcement of doubling of farm credit, a sum of Rs. 248 crore has been disbursed by the Cooperative and Regional Rural banks in the State till February 2007 against the year’s target of Rs. 308 crore.

Micro Credit movement made further strides in the State during 2006-07. The number of new SHGs credit linked during the year was 3500 (provisional figures), taking the cumulative total to 25641 SHGs.  A notable development during the year was launching of a Pilot Project for Promotion of Micro Enterprises by matured SHGs in Kangra district which is one of the nine districts identified countrywide. Under the programme for capacity building of stakeholders in the SHG programme. NABARD organised as many as 90 Training Programmes, Workshops and Sensitization Meets in all districts in the State.

Himachal Pradesh has the highest density  of SHG and 30000 SHGs are operating in the State out of which have been credit linked with banks. The various organizations associated with the micro credit movement in Himachal Pradesh, is being spearheaded by 775 bank branches and 37 NGOs. Parvatiya Gramin Bank, Chamba and 17 Farmers’ Clubs are working as Self Help Group Promoting Institutions (SHPIs). NABARD has started providing State-level awards to best SHPIs, NGOs and Banks in the State for their contribution towards promotion of SHGs.

In order to build a link between the banks and rural communities, NABARD has been supporting programme of Farmers Clubs. The year 2006-07 witnessed the number of Farmers’ Clubs zooming past the 150 mark, with launching of 45 Clubs taking the total number of active clubs to 154. Under the Capacity Building for Adoption of Technology (CAT) programme of NABARD, Exposure-cum-Training Visits of over 100 Farmers from Farmers’ Clubs of various districts were organized.

148 Farmers’ Club have been promoted in the State, the goal being at-least one such club to be promoted by each bank branch. The role of the farmers’ club has been enlarged and now the mission is “Development of farmers through credit, technology transfer, awareness and capacity building”.