Karnataka seeks special relief package for farmers

The Karnataka government plans to send a proposal to the Centre for announcing a special relief package for pomegranate and grape growers.

Speaking on the sidelines of the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) Karnataka on Wednesday, Additional Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner G V Krishna Rau said, “Details are being worked out by horticulture department and will be sent to state cabinet for approval.”

Recently, the Karnataka State Grape Growers' Association had demanded compensation of Rs 1 lakh per acre for crop loss due to the recent heavy monsoons.

More than Rs 900 crore worth of crops has been damaged by hailstorms.

Earlier, in his keynote address, Syndicate Bank CMD and SLBC Chairman Sudhir Kumar Jain appealed to banks to provide banking outlets in the allotted sub-service area centres to facilitate smooth implementation of the scheme.

Banks have opened 89,224 accounts, issued 56,797 debit cards, seeded 78,227 accounts with the NPCI Mapper.

Jain urged banks to take steps to expedite seeding of Aadhaar number in bank accounts and map with NPCI Mapper. Under Annual Credit Plan 2013-14, Karnataka banks achieved 100.86 per cent disbursal at Rs 73,993 crore under priority sector credit during 2013-14, against the target of Rs 73,362 crore. Under agriculture, banks have disbursed Rs 45,753 crore against the target of Rs 44,545 crore.