Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday launched a Common Credit Portal ‘SAFAL’— a Simplified Application for Agricultural Loans—for the farmers of the state.
Launching the portal, the Chief Minister said that the application can revolutionise credit provisions for farmers and agri-entrepreneurs. A programme was organised at Convention Centre in Lok Seva Bhawan where the Odisha CM joined the virtual platform.
Expressing delight over the launch of the portal, the Chief Minister said that the application is a one-stop solution for farmers and agri-entrepreneurs to avail formal sector credit from Public and Private sector banks, Regional Rural Banks, State Cooperative Banks and Small Finance Banks.
With this facility, the Odisha CM said, farmers and agri-entrepreneurs will have access to more than 300 term loan products being offered by 40 plus partner banks.
Besides, he added, it has been integrated with Krushak Odisha as well as access to 70 plus model project reports. It will ease the loan application process benefiting both the farmers and banks significantly. The portal will also reduce information asymmetry by sending farmers real-time notifications at every stage of their loan application, he assured.
The Chief Minister further said that SAFAL will also provide the government with complete visibility of demand and disbursal of formal credit across states and ensure schemes are designed in a data-backed manner. He hoped that SAFAL would be a facilitator of credit to spur the agriculture and allied sectors in our State and increases the economic prowess of our farmers in the long run.
Earlier, CM Naveen Patnaik said that farmers are the backbone of our economy, and agriculture is the largest employer in the state in addition to being the key to the socioeconomic development of our people. He added that his government, therefore, lays special emphasis on the development of the farming sector through various interventions supported by a comprehensive and inclusive state agricultural policy with the government taking strides in increasing the income of farmers.
Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari appreciated the CM’s vision for the empowerment of farmers’ inclusion in the economic process.
Speaking on the occasion, Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain outlined the steps taken by his department for economic development and the welfare of farmers.
Agriculture Production Commissioner-cum-ACS Sanjeev Chopra highlighted the achievement of Odisha in the agriculture sector.
CEO of RBI Innovation Hub and CMD of UCO Bank also spoke on the occasion. They said that Banks appreciate the CM’s efforts for the economic integration of farmers and agri-entrepreneurs. They assured complete support by banks to farmers in all the initiatives of the state government.
Principal Secretary Agriculture Arabinda Padhi gave the welcome address and commissioner-cum-secretary FARD offered the vote of thanks.
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