Shri Kadakampally Surendran, Hon’ble Minister for Co-operation, Tourism and Devaswom,

Shri V.S. Sunil Kumar, Hon’ble Minister for Agriculture,

Shri Ramesh Chennithala, Opposition Leader, Kerala

Legislative Assembly, Shri Chandrabal Singh MP, Chairman, National Co-operative Union,

Shri V.S. Sivakumar MLA,

Dr. Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, Chairman, NABARD,

Dr. P. Suresh Babu, IAS, Managing Director, K.S.C.A.R.D.B.,

Shri Solomon Alex, President, K.S.C.A.R.D.B.,

Sahodaree Sahodaranmaare,

Ellaavarkkum Ente Namaskaaram,

It gives me great pleasure to be amongst you all today to inaugurate the Kerala Agricultural and Rural Finance Summit 2016, organized by the Kerala State Cooperative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank.

Let me at the outset, extend my warm wishes to all the members of the staff and management, on the sixtieth anniversary of the Bank, which has been sincerely serving the agricultural community through various schemes. On this Diamond Jubilee year of the Bank, it is our duty to recall the services of hundreds of people whose hard work had contributed to the growth achieved by this Bank. We also owe a debt of gratitude to hundreds of farmers whose cooperation and involvement helped in the development of this organization.

Though the evolution of this bank could be traced to 1931 when the Land Mortgage Bank began functioning in Travancore, its work in the cooperative sector began only in 1956, with the establishment of the Kerala Cooperative Central Land Mortgage Bank. The present name came into effect in 1984 with the enactment of the Kerala Cooperative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank Act. As a growing organization, it has come a long way from the days when it had focused only on the redemption of the debts of the rural farmer to the present production-oriented financing policy.      I am happy to note that today, this Bank has 75 Taluk level affiliated Cooperative Agricultural Rural Development banks and a wide network of branches through which it achieves the main objective of a comprehensive agricultural and rural development in Kerala.

As we all know, the recent demonetization measures had brought the cooperative sector to the limelight, especially in Kerala. However, it is good to see a positive and mature response on the part of the Cooperative sector which was quick to take corrective measures with competitive professionalism. Over the years, the cooperative bodies with banking license in Kerala have been extending a stiff competition to the nationalized and scheduled banks in terms of deposit mobilization and loan disbursal. I understand that the Kerala State Cooperative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank also  has been allowed to mobilize term deposits and saving deposits from the public and that it is awaiting banking license.

 The cooperative sector has great significance in India, where agriculture still reigns as the major occupation of the people. Though its contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product is less than 20%, agricultural sector is still the largest employer in rural India. As far as farmers are concerned, agricultural financing is a matter of top priority, even more important than new technology.

We all know that agricultural production in our country depends on the efforts and efficiency of millions of small farmers. And it is no secret that the income of these farmers is mostly seasonal.  Therefore, finance options attain great significance in agriculture. The problem in many rural areas is that farmers often face the issue of inadequate funds and timely credit facilities at reasonable rates. This prevents many farmers from going for improved seeds or fertilizers. In Kerala, thanks to a strong network of cooperative banks and agricultural lending facilities, people have broader choices for raising funds.

However, I would suggest that banks, especially those in the cooperative sector should open avenues for people to be better informed about the various sources of agriculture finance, lending rates, etc., People also need to be constantly updated about the changing legal and regulatory environment in agricultural financing so that farmers can select the options most suitable to them, especially when it comes to capital intensive investments in farm mechanization etc.

Since I hail from an agricultural background, my family has been utilizing the services of the cooperative sector for decades. Even though many farmers are receiving timely help from banking institutions, we also find many undeserving people getting the benefits that are set aside exclusively for farmers. I have come across many people availing themselves of agricultural loans when they do not do any farming at all. And when it comes to writing off certain loans, it is often such undeserving people who get the benefit instead of the farmers. Banks in many cities are happy to give agricultural loan on the surety of gold, but when it comes to farmers who cannot afford to give such security, banks show a lot of reluctance. This attitude has to change, and banks should become more sensitive to the needs of actual farmers, whose incomes are at times seasonal and subject to matters like natural disasters or climatic uncertainties, which are beyond their control.  Insurance companies, too are not very supportive to farmers because of uncertain nature of their profits.

It is therefore necessary that banks should take the lead in ensuring that financial aid for farmers reach the most deserving people. I hope the Kerala Agricultural and Rural Finance Summit 2016 would consider such issues seriously and introduce the necessary conceptual changes in the agricultural financing sector.

I compliment the Kerala State Co-operative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank for having won five national awards for excellence in lending, recovery, overall performance etc and for outstanding performance by its leadership. I sincerely hope that this model of excellence continues in the coming years, too.

I greet all the people who are attending this summit, especially the farmer representatives and wish them success in their future endeavours. 

Ellaavarkkum Ente Aashamsakal

Nanni

Jai Hind