Ahmedabad: Union Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced that cooperative sector banks will soon be given permission to implement government welfare schemes, which use the trinity of Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) for direct benefit transfer (DBT).
JAM is the Centre’s initiative to link Jan Dhan accounts, mobile numbers and Aadhaar cards to plug leakages of government subsidies.
At present, 52 ministries use DBT with the help of JAM to provide assistance to beneficiaries under 300 government schemes, Shah said while virtually addressing the 70th annual general meeting of Ahmedabad-headquartered Gujarat State Co-operative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank Ltd, popularly known as Kheti Bank.
“Very soon, the cooperative sector will enter these government schemes, which will increase our direct contact with the common man. The cooperative sector has been kept away from JAM DBT schemes. But the Centre has now decided to allow the cooperative banks to implement these government schemes,” the Union minister of cooperation said.
Shah praised Kheti Bank’s management, especially its chairman Dollarrai Kotecha, for recovering Rs 190 crore from loan defaulters last year.
“Kheti Bank contributed immensely in developing Gujarat’s agricultural sector. It provides long and medium-term agri loans to farmers. The bank also provides loans for dairies, cottage industry and for self-employment. Till now, it has disbursed loans of Rs 4,543 crore to nearly 8.42 lakh farmers,” he said.
The bank came into existence in 1951 under the leadership of the then ruler of Porbandar princely state, Udaybhansinhji.
The main purpose of the bank was to provide loans to farmers to buy agricultural land from the erstwhile rulers following the integration of princely states into the Union of India after Independence, Shah said, adding that nearly 56,000 farmers became land owners with the help of loans given by the bank at the time.
