- By Kamakshi Bishnoi
- Tue, 20 May 2025 03:59 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the immediate launch of the ‘Mukhyamantri Krishak Samriddhi Yojana’ aimed at increasing the income and economic empowerment of small and marginal farmers across the state. He emphasised the need for a detailed proposal to be prepared and submitted promptly.
During a review meeting of the Cooperative Department on Monday, the Chief Minister highlighted the government’s ongoing efforts to relieve farmers from debt burdens, promote self-reliance, and enhance agricultural productivity. He stressed the importance of providing farmers with easy access to affordable loans.
Describing the scheme as a visionary and farmer-friendly initiative, Yogi Adityanath called for active involvement of cooperative banks and NABARD in its implementation. He instructed that the scheme’s rollout must be timely and efficient, with a focus on increasing the credit disbursement capacity of cooperative banks, modernising branches, and ensuring easy financial assistance to farmers.
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The Chief Minister also emphasised transparency and vigilance in the cooperative sector while prioritising income growth for small and marginal farmers. Highlighting infrastructure development, he announced plans to construct 100 new warehouses in 2025-26 as part of the country’s largest food storage scheme, with godowns of 500 to 1000 metric tonnes capacity to be built at 24 B-Pax centers across 16 districts. He further directed the preparation of policies to encourage private sector partnerships in storage expansion and called for improving the functioning of the PCF and timely payments to rice millers.
To strengthen the cooperative sector workforce, the Chief Minister urged the acceleration of recruitment for vacant banking and non-banking posts through the IBPS selection process. Officials informed that the UP Co-operative Bank and 50 District Co-operative Banks are being connected to NABARD’s CBS Cloud Platform for enhanced operations.
The scheme will be operated through the Uttar Pradesh Sahakari Gram Vikas Bank, which will offer long-term loans to farmers at significantly reduced interest rates, supported by government subsidies. Loans will be provided for a minimum period of five years, making farming credit more affordable.
The Sahakari Gram Vikas Bank secured loans from NABARD at around 8 per cent interest and disbursed them to farmers at 11 per cent. Under this scheme, with government interest subsidies, farmers are expected to receive loans at a much lower rate, estimated between 3 per cent and 5 per cent.
The Cooperative Department has finalised the scheme proposal and forwarded it to the Finance Department for review. It is expected to be presented to the Cabinet for approval soon.
This initiative reflects the Uttar Pradesh government’s commitment to empowering farmers financially and strengthening the agricultural sector through sustainable and accessible credit solutions.
