By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR:Banks collecting deposits of Rs 30 lakh crore from Odisha within 5 years should provide loans of Rs 10 lakh to at least 100 youth and women in every panchayat of the state.
The government should be the guarantor for getting this loan and in order to become self-reliant, the banks should abolish the capital deposit system for this loan. Kalinga Sena General Secretary Radha Mohan Patnaik, Vijay Raj, Manoj Nayak, Sumant Swain, Amulya Nayak, Vice President Abdul Qayum Khan, Himasung Nayak, Organization Minister Sanjay Pradhan, Editor Ashok Sahu, and Women Leader Monalisa Biswal have jointly demanded in a press conference today.
At a press conference held here, Shri Patnaik said that the deposits of public and private banks that have opened their branches in Odisha are increasing year by year. But they are not providing loans to the unemployed youth of Odisha, whether for business or education, in proportion to the deposits collected. The huge amount of deposits collected from Odisha are being diverted to other states.
The lion’s share of the loans given in Odisha are not home loans, car loans, but loans to industrialists. They are giving loans to agricultural loans, small businesses, film sponsors and schemes of the Central and State Governments. The situation has become such that some non-Odisha industrialists and businessmen are fleeing Odisha by taking huge loans from them and leaving some companies.
Therefore, banks should immediately make arrangements to provide loans to the unemployed youth of Odisha at the panchayat level. The government should be the guarantor for these loans. Both the government and the banks should make arrangements for how the youth can get loans easily and simply. Shri Patnaik demanded that the State Level Bankers Committee issue a white paper on which banks in the state have provided loans to how many youth and women in which districts in the last 5 years.
Shri Patnaik said that in 2020-21, banks raised capital of Rs 3.81 lakh crore from Odisha, while in 2021-22 it had crossed Rs 4.3 lakh crore. In 2022-23, it had crossed Rs 4.6 lakh crore, while in 2023-24 it had crossed Rs 5.27 lakh crore. While it was around Rs 6 lakh crore in 2024-25, by the end of September of the current financial year, banks have raised capital of Rs 6,16,818 crore from Odisha.
Banks are not providing loans to priority sectors at the rate at which they are raising capital from the Odisha market. While agriculture is at the forefront in this sector, there are some other priority sectors including MSME and education. They are reluctant to provide loans to unemployed youth and women. They are not heeding the repeated pleas of the government.
Shri Patnaik said that in 2020-21, banks provided loans worth around Rs 80,000 crore to these priority sectors. Out of which, the highest amount was given to the MSME sector at Rs 38,891 crore, followed by the agriculture sector. In 2021-22, banks provided loans worth a little over Rs 1 lakh crore to these sectors, with the highest amount going to the agriculture sector. In 2022-23, they provided loans worth Rs 1,35,720 crore, while the MSME sector received the highest amount of loans of Rs 62,000 crore. More than Rs 54,000 crore was provided to the agriculture sector this year. In 2023-24, banks provided loans worth Rs 1,65,000 crore, compared to around Rs 1,95,000 crore in the previous financial year.
Shri Patnaik said that the people of the state should know in which states the collected funds from Odisha are going to be spent. Shri Patnaik warned that banks that have not given loans to 100 youth and women of each panchayat by the end of the current financial year i.e. March 31 will not be allowed to operate in Odisha. Among others, Vice President Sabyasachi Mohapatra, Tulsi Dash, Sameer Pradhan, Barodakant Mohanty were prominently present.
