IEP Chandigarh, January 30
Releasing another financial assistance of Rs 85 crore to bailout the Punjab State Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank Limited, Punjab Finance, Planning, Excise and Taxation Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday said that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government has so far extended aid of Rs 798 crore rupees to save this bank of farmers. Disclosing this in a press statement issued here, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that the Punjab State Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank was stuck in the quagmire of financial crisis due to the neglect of this bank by the previous state governments. He said that financial assistance of Rs 85 crore has been now provided to this cooperative bank so that it could pay the due installment to NABARD. He said that in case of non-payment of the due installment of Rs 120.91 crore to NABARD by January 31, 2023, the bank would have become a defaulter of NABARD and it would fail to get refinance from NABARD in future. Giving details about the assistance provided by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab government to this cooperative bank so far, the Finance Minister said that the government had provided Rs 425 crore on May 26, 2022, to repay bullet loan of NABARD, Rs 100 crore to repay loan installment due on July 31, 2022, besides providing Rs 62.67 crore on April 28 and Rs 125.33 crore on September 21, 2022, to pay pension and pension arrears. He said that the Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank has been facing this crisis only because the previous governments did not make sufficient efforts to recover the loans provided by this bank. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government is committed to reviving this bank for the welfare of farmers and agriculturists. He said that this bank has been playing an important role in providing easy loans to farmers to ensure the development of the agriculture sector. He also appealed to the borrowers to make honest efforts to repay their loans as soon as possible because the existence of this bank is very important to provide easy loans to people like them.
