166
(18.1% and 6.3%); of course, these two regions enjoy relatively better shares in
farm incomes (22-24% and 17%) but even these income shares are much lower
than their proportions in farm credit. Some of the states which fare badly in
this comparison are Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, and West Bengal in the eastern
region, Madhya Pradesh
plus
Chhattisgarh in the central region and the north-
eastern region generally.
The second result that strikes in these data is that there has not been
any noticeable improvement in the credit shares of poorer regions identified
above. The share of eastern region in fact fell rather steadily though slowly,
from 6.3% in 1995-96 to 5.3% in 1999-2000 but thereafter there has been
some pick-up with the share reaching 6.7% in 2004-05 and 7.4% in 2010-11.
The performance of the central region has been still worse; overall, its share
in GLC has persistently fallen from from 16.1% in 1995-96 to 13.3% in 2007-
08 and further to 12.1% in 2010-11. Interestingly, the policy of doubling of
credit has not benefited the central region, even as much as it has benefited
the eastern region. Within the eastern region, Bihar has lagged behind rather
considerably, and in the central region, Uttar Pradesh.
Role of cooperatives and RRBs
We have had an occasion to present the region-wise distribution of
agricultural credit rendered by scheduled commercial banks (see earlier
Table 4.20) based on RBI’s
Basic Statistical Returns
(BSR). It had brought
out how inter-regional disparities have persisted except for some marginal
corrections over time. In this sub-section, an attempt is made to see if RRBs
and cooperatives have fared any the better in regional spread of farm credit.
Data presented in Annexure Q seek to depict the relative roles of
cooperatives
19
and RRBs compared with those of commercial banks up
to the year 2005-06. A separate Annexure Y presents the subsequent
limited data agency-wise up to the year 2010-11.
RRBs were created as an institution to fill the gaps in banking
infrastructure in under-developed regions and states. Significantly, the highest
presence of RRBs, judged by their farm credit disbursements, is to be found
in the southern region. There may be pockets within the region which required
RRB presence.
19
There may be some gaps in these data. For instance, it is found that Maharashtra has no Land
Development Bank lendings in some years which is unlikely.
