Chief Minister remarks on welfare schemes spur officials into action

Bankers blamed for poor implementation of various programmes

The ‘adverse’ comments of Chief Minister N. Kirankumar Reddy on the status of West Godavari district in implementing the government-sponsored schemes at a recent meeting of the State Level Bankers’ Review Committee (SLBC) has evoked a knee-jerk reaction from the district official top brass and bankers.

Collector G. Vanimohan called for an emergency meeting with bankers and heads of all the departments concerned here on Friday to take stock of the fate of the schemes intended for uplifting the poor at the fag end of the financial year which is to come to a close in the next 45 days. The Chief Minister expressed his ‘grave concern’ over the poor implementation of several schemes designed to benefit the people from the Schedule Castes, Backward Classes, Muslim Minorities, Christians, and artisans such as washermen, nayee bramhins, Bhattarajas, Valmikis/Boyas, Sagars, and Upparas. He wanted the Collector to ensure that the annual targets of these schemes were met by March 15.

As per a status report of the schemes appended to a letter mailed by the Chief Minister’s Office to the Collector, the administration has programmed to 459 units under the TRICOR for the economic development of tribal people during the financial year and none of them is initiated as of now. The Chief Minister’s Pasukranti Padhakam under which 3,086 milch animals were proposed to be distributed to the rural poor has also met with the same fate. Under the newly launched Pala Pragati Kendralu programme, it has been planned to distribute 644 milch animals to the beneficiaries. The process began for only 64 proposals. The progress of the schemes for elimination of urban and rural poverty and the job schemes like the Prime Minister’s Employment Guarantee Programme and the Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojna (SJSRY) also failed to enthuse the Chief Minister.

Rabi targets

When the rabi targets under the Load Eligibility Card (LECs) finance scheme stood at Rs. 139 crore, only Rs. 37 crore was disbursed to the tenant farmers holding the LECs.

Curiously enough, the meeting witnessed a blame game between the district officials and the bankers on the fate of the schemes. The Collector and the Project Director, District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), backed by other officers from several departments squarely held the bankers’ ‘apathy’ responsible for the fate of the schemes. Hanna Rachael Mani, Deputy General Manager, State Bank of India, said the poor recoveries by the borrowers leading to a spurt in the incidence of non-performing assets (NPAs) was the reason for the bankers’ ‘reluctance’ to finance the schemes.