In a bid to help farmers, Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank launched a unique scheme of providing loans to the farmers against their produce in just four minutes.
For the successful implementation of the scheme, the bank had tied-up with the Maharashtra State Warehousing Corporation. The scheme aims at providing loans to the farmers against their produce stored at the state warehousing corporation.
The bank had been running the scheme on a trial basis for the past two years but it was officially launched on Wednesday.
Talking to the Indian Cooperative correspondent, Vidyadhar Anaskar, the Chairman of the Administrative Board of Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank said, “We have launched a unique scheme for helping the farmers. Under the scheme, we are providing loans to farmers against their produce stored at the state warehousing corporation”.
“So far, we have disbursed Rs 100 crore to more than 4,500 farmers. The rate of interest is 9 percent. The farmers can take loan by directly contacting the staff deployed at the state warehousing corporation. We have set a target of disbursing more than 1000 crore in the current financial year”, he added.
Anaskar further said, “If a farmer wants to take the loans against their produce stored at the warehousing corporation, they have to contact the respective staff deployed at the warehousing centre, who will help them avail the loan. The warehousing corporation will upload all the necessary documents online on the portal and after reviewing them the 70 percent loans will be transferred via RTGS or NEFT”, he informed.
Under the scheme, the farmer does not need to visit the bank during the process and no need to open the account with the MSC Bank. This will help farmers sell their produce at an appropriate time in the market.
The MSC Bank is also in communication with the Maharashtra Cotton and Marketing Corporation for helping the cotton farmers in the Vidarbha region.