Priority sector loans

This refers to ‘Mislabelled agri loans face culling’ (November 11). Demanding collateral for agricultural loans under priority sector up to ₹1.60 lakh must be viewed seriously by the RBI. Priority sector lending is primarily aimed at increasing the credit flow to sectors such as agriculture, MSME, education and export to name a few. If any bank is unable to reach the set target under priority sector, to make good the shortfall, it can buy priority sector lending (PSL) certificate or invest in Nabard’s Rural Infrastructure Fund. Private banks cannot take the plea that they do not have specialised staff to lend under agriculture. They need to hire experienced agricultural extension officers as is being done by public sector banks, get them trained by specialised institutes and establish a dedicated agri credit cell in rural areas to increase farm lending as well as to other key priority sector areas.

RV Baskaran

Chennai

Gaps in climate finance

With reference to the editorial ‘Strange climate’ (November 11), it is indeed strange that the issue of climate finance is still at a discussion stage, even as extreme climate events have become more frequent all over the globe. It is doubtful if developed countries would come out with necessary promises of climate finance, given the history of the fate of the unmet meagre target of the green climate fund. The situation is further complicated by the change of political leadership in the US. The world has to seriously discuss the climate change, deliberate on New Collective Quantified Goals and arrive at a definitive amount of climate finance that would be made available by the developed nations annually to the developing nations.

Kosaraju Chandramouli

Hyderbad

Funding higher education

This refers to ‘Making higher education an accessible public good’ (November 11). Education is a continuous process of creating skills. India should ensure that there is no involuntary unemployment in a few years’ time. The PM-Vidyalaxmi scheme, which aims to help meritorious students financially , can be seen as an endeavour towards that. That said, schools and colleges should keep the students and parents informed about the scheme, so that they could make the best use of it.

S Ramakrishnasayee

Chennai

Ethanol blending

Apropos ‘Ethanol blending is proving messy’ (November 11), India’s mission to transform its auto sector with flex-fuel vehicles , which will reduce oil import on a mass scale, faces several challenges. Ethanol is made from sugarcane, rice and maize. Ethanol production’s feasibility depends on the availability of surplus foodgrains after meeting domestic consumption needs. Large scale ethanol production may have an impact on land and water usage. Also, it needs a humongous inventory of raw-materials.

NR Nagarajan

Sivakasi, TN