Pilot project in Gujarat districts to expand reach of rural cooperative banks

NEW DELHI: Seeking to expand the reach and capacity of rural cooperative banks, a pilot project has been launched in Panchmahal and Banaskantha districts of Gujarat where bank accounts of all the members of the cooperative societies are being opened in the concerned District Central Cooperative Banks and Rupay Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) are being distributed to account holders.
Success of this model will gradually be replicated in all the districts across the country to increase the footprint of rural cooperative banks. The move is expected to provide necessary liquidity to the members of rural cooperative societies.
Sharing details of the pilot project, the government told Rajya Sabha during the just concluded winter session of the Parliament that flow of funds in the rural cooperative banking sector in both the districts has increased manifold in terms of the amount and number of transactions through Rupay Kisan Credit Cards during the pilot phase.
The Rupay Kisan Credit Card is provided to farmers who have an account under the Kisan Credit Card Scheme to provide credit support to the agricultural and allied sector. The KCC scheme is implemented to provide need based, timely credit support to farmers for their cultivation needs as well as for non-farming activities, in a cost-effective manner.