Gariaband. The problems of farmers have increased due to the non-opening of a new bank branch in Sinpali village of Devbhog development block. Farmers are being paid only one crore rupees on paddy purchase worth five crore rupees daily. Payment could not be made in Devbhog District Cooperative Bank yesterday due to shortage of cash. A similar situation was also seen in Goharapadar Cooperative Bank.
There are 10 purchase centers under Devbhog District Cooperative Bank. Where 9780 farmers from 94 villages sold paddy. Every day 1 thousand farmers sell paddy worth 4 to 5 crores, despite the loan deduction, farmers have to take payment of at least 3 crores from the bank. But the whole day passes by before the banks make payment of 1 crore. Due to cash shortage, payment could not be made in Devbhog on Wednesday, the next day too the bank was filled with farmers. There is also a shortage of payment in Goharapadar Cooperative Bank.
The number of registered farmers increased
In 2020, the number of registered farmers of Devbhog branch was less than 6 thousand, which has increased by 30 percent in the last four years to over 9700. After the farmer-friendly decisions and schemes of the government, the dependence of farmers on the cooperative bank increased. Due to not upgrading the banks with time, the farmers associated with the MSP scheme are facing problems during payment.
In fact, the previous Bhupesh government of the state had announced the opening of a cooperative bank in Sinpali on 6 December 2022. This would have reduced the burden of more than 30 villages connected to 12 panchayats from the Devbhog Cooperative Bank. The District Cooperative Bank Raipur office had written a letter to the Goharapadar branch on 30 July 2024. In which, citing the approval received from the RBI, it directed to select the site. The selection process was also completed, but the process was suddenly relaxed. There is anger among the farmers, they are preparing for a protest if a new bank branch is not opened.
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