class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The Odisha Department of Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment on July 16, 2020 notifies a Scheme for financing Joint Liability Groups/Sharecroppers- Bhoomihina Agriculturist Loan and Resources Augmentation Model (BALARAM).
Following key features are given in Scheme:
The farmers practising cultivation shall be the target group of crop loan financing in JLG model.
Crop Loans amounting to a maximum of Rs 1.60 lakh per group (as per RBI norms) shall be financed by the banks.
The eligibility of group financing shall depend upon the CIBIL (Credit Information Bureau of India Ltd) score of individual farmers and other banking regulations.
The Krushak Sathis who are local progressive farmers shall play the prime role of motivator in JLG formation assist the members in the documentation & liaise with the banks for crop loan financing.
Krushak Sathis shall assess the credit needs of the farmers for farming activities in his/her Gram Panchayat and form a group of such farmers with minimum 5 farmers.
The existing farmer data base containing information of the landless and small / marginal farmers shall be made available to Krushak Sathis to help them in identification of appropriate beneficiaries.
Capacity building of officials involved at various levels shall be taken up by the NABARD.
Banks will have specific targets for financing of crop loans to JLG.
The VAW/AO will issue the Certificate of Cultivation (CoC) to the sharecroppers in the prescribed format based on field verification.
[Notification No. 11207/A&FE/AG-AB-20/2020]
