Whenever the history of eradication of poverty and development of agriculture in the country will be written, the nine years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will be written in golden letters, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on July 12.
Shah’s statement came while addressing the 42nd Foundation Day function of NABARD here in the national capital. Shah said under the leadership of PM Modi, not only the cities of India but the villages are also becoming self-sufficient today.
Along with this, the Minister said, our agricultural economy, which is considered to be the soul of the rural economy, is also growing very rapidly.
In the agricultural economy, Shah said that the co-operative sector is connected in such a way that it cannot be separated and that NABARD played a huge role in helping the self-help groups to stand on their feet, which enabled every person in the village, especially mothers and sisters to become self-reliant and establish themselves in the society with respect.
“India which has about 65 per cent rural population cannot be imagined without NABARD, which has worked as the backbone of this country’s rural economy, infrastructure, agriculture, cooperative institutions and self-help groups for the last four decades,” the Home Minister said.
In the last 42 years, the Minister said NABARD has taken initiatives in many sectors, especially in refinance and capital formation.
He said an amount of about Rs 8 lakh crore has gone to the rural economy through NABARD for capital formation so far.
Under various schemes, Shah said, NABARD has refinanced Rs 12 lakh crore to the rural agricultural economy to meet the needs of agriculture and farmers and to strengthen and diversify agri-production.
Further, the Union Minister said that NABARD has refinanced Rs 20 lakh crore in the rural economy with a growth rate of 14 per cent in the last 42 years.
Noting that without this achievement, the country’s rural economy and its development cannot be imagined, Shah said we should set such goals which encourage people to work and inspire others to progress ahead.
Shah mentioned a short-term loan of Rs 896 crore was provided for agriculture finance in 1982, which NABARD has taken to Rs 1.58 lakh crore today. “In 1982, the long-term agriculture loan was only Rs 2,300 crore, which has been increased to Rs 1 lakh crore by NABARD today.”
On this occasion, the Home Minister also distributed Micro-ATM cards to milk societies and RuPay Kisan Credit cards to the members of these societies.
Many dignitaries, including Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, Ministry of Cooperation Secretary Gyanesh Kumar and Chairman NABARD KV Shaji, were also present.
(with inputs from ANI)
