Hoping to offset the impact of the demonetisation of high value currency notes, the government on Wednesday announced fresh measures to benefit farmers in the rabi season and boost digital transactions.
The Finance Ministry has asked the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) to sanction ₹21,000 crore to district cooperative banks in order to fund the crop loan demands of small and marginal farmers.
“About 40 per cent of the credit needs of farmers are taken care of by such banks,” said Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, adding that this will ensure unhindered credit availability to farmers.
“This will enable them to pass on or grant funds to the primary agriculture cooperatives and help in meeting crop loan requirements of farmers in rabi season,” he said, adding that as and when required the sanctioned limit to Nabard will be increased.
Banks have also been advised to make cash available to district cooperative banks and the issue has been reviewed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“DCCBs will get their cash from currency chests of banks and State cooperatives. Nabard has created list of DCCBs and their list of requirements have been given to banks,” Das said.
The decision was reportedly taken after a meeting that the Prime Minister had with NDA ally Shiv Sena on Tuesday. The Sena is said to have flagged the issue of cooperative banks facing a squeeze and farmers being hit during sowing season. The party had also joined an Opposition march to the President to protest the currency ban.
Easing digital transactions To encourage digital payments, the charges on debit cards by public sector banks, some private banks as well as service providers will also be waived until December 31, 2016.
The National Payments Corporation of India has already waived the charges on Rupay cards.
“The intention of this decision is to ensure greater penetration of digital transaction in our economy,” said Das. The Finance Ministry said 30 crore RuPay Debit Cards had been issued and 300 per cent growth in usage in the last 12 days has been witnessed.
Similarly, the teleocm regulator TRAI has also reduced the USSD charges from the current ₹1.50 per session to 50 paise per session for transactions relating to banking and payments and has also simplified the procedure.
Das said telecom companies have also agreed to waive the balance 50 paisa USSD charge per session up till December 31.
Meanwhile, the Indian Railways has also decided to waive the service charges on online booking, till the end of the year.
To ensure smooth movement at toll plazas, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will advise vehicle manufacturers to provide ETC-compliant RFID tags in all new vehicles.
All government organisations and public sector undertakings have also been advised to use digital means for payments.
Das said the government has been reviewing the position of cash availability on a daily basis. Of the two lakh ATMs, 82,000 have already been recalibrated.
To replace the defunct ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes, printing presses have been printing new denomination currency notes on a 24x7 basis, in three shifts. Das, however, declined to comment on the amount of money that has been replaced.