Banks operating in J&K State have extended credit aggregating to Rs.11,300.29 Crore during first three quarters of FY 2014-15 registering an achievement of 57% in financial terms. J&K Bank alone has disbursed Rs.8,018.53 Crore, which accounts for 71% of the total credit disbursed by all 46 banks/Financial Institutions operating in the State. This was revealed by Mushtaq Ahmad, Chairman & CEO, J&K Bank (Convenor J&K SLBC), while presiding over the 96th meeting of J&K State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) today at Jammu.

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary Planning & Development, J&K Government Mr. B. R. Sharma, Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India, D. Sethy, Chief General Manager NABARD, Shanker A. Pande, Deputy Secretary, Department of Financial Services, MoF, GoI, A. K. Dogra, senior officers of banks, Reserve Bank of India, NABARD, State Government Departments & developmental agencies and representatives of various insurance companies.

Chairman J&K Bank who is also convener J&K SLBC while taking review of the performance of the banks for the three quarters of the current fiscal stated that J&K SLBC is making concerted efforts to implement the various initiatives taken by the Central and State Government for the overall economic development of the State. “Financial Inclusion has always remained our priority for promoting inclusive growth and bringing into the banking fold the people who are still financially excluded”, he stated. The programme has got the focused attention after Hon’ble Prime Minister of India declared this as a national mission for implementation through special programme “Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana’. Under the programme, banks have opened 12.35 lakh fresh accounts upto 31st January 2015 and issued RuPay Debit Cards to 6.93 lakh beneficiaries.

On the restructuring of various types of credit facilities to the existing borrowers and disbursement of fresh loans to the people affected by the floods that devastated the State in the month of September 2014, Chairman stated that banks have adopted a very positive approach in providing hassle free credit to the flood victims for their economic rehabilitation. He stated that up to 30th January 2015 banks in J&K State have received 17,369 applications for rescheduling/restructuring of existing loans and issuance of fresh credit out of which 14,837 applications involving an amount of Rs.1,263.00 Crore in respect of existing and fresh borrowers affected by the natural calamity have been processed/ sanctioned. Banks have disbursed credit amounting to Rs.687.11 Crore in favour of 11,321 applicants up to the said period, he informed. He emphasized that banks should complete the process of rescheduling/ restructuring of the loans by 31st March 2015 which is the timeline set by RBI.
On the poor credit off take under Housing and Education sectors, Principal Secretary, Planning Mr. B. R. Sharma was of the view that Banks need to highlight the features, in order to create awareness about these schemes among the general masses so that the benefits of these schemes gets percolated to various sections of the society.

Under Priority Sector, banks have disbursed an amount of Rs.6,150.30 Crore to 2,33,273 beneficiaries thereby achieving 49% of target. Under Agriculture Sector the banks have provided credit aggregating Rs.1,951.28 Crore.

Under Micro & Small Enterprises Sector, banks have disbursed total amount of Rs.3,072.33 Crore during the three quarters thereby registering an achievement of 73%.

Under Housing Sector, banks have disbursed credit amounting to Rs.424.34 Crore during the period under review. Under Non-Priority Sector, the banks have disbursed Rs.5,149.99 Crore during the said period.

under Government Sponsored Schemes in the State, banks have disbursed Rs.131.93 Crore to 5,829 beneficiaries under five major Government Sponsored Schemes, viz. NRLM, PMEGP, NULM, JKSES and SC/ST/OBC.

 The C. D. Ratio of all banks operating in the State at the end of Q3 of FY 2014-15 stood at 46.07% against 40.80% during the corresponding period of previous year, thereby registering a reasonable improvement,.

A booklet on Joint Liability Group (JLG) financing, prepared by NABARD was also released on the occasion for information and guidance of the banks. Chief General Manager, NABARD Mr. Shanker A. Pande emphasized on the banks to take immediate steps for improving credit to Joint Liability Groups (JLGs).