419
89.35 million farm households, 43.42 million (48.6 per cent) were reported
to be indebted. That is, 51.4 per cent or about 46 million did not enjoy
any indebtedness (of the value above
`
300) to any of the credit agencies –
international or non-international.
Table 1: Number of Rural, Farmer and Indebted and Non-Indebted Farmer
Households as per NSS 59th Round Survey (January-December 2003)
(Number in Million)
Rural
Households
Farmer
Households
Indebted Farmer
Households
Non-Indebted
Farmer Households
147.90
89.35
(60.4)
43.42
(29.4)
[48.6]
45.93
(31.1)
[51.4]
Note
(i) Figures in round brackets are percentages to total rural households
(ii) Figures in square brackets are percentages to total farmer households
(iii) Farmer household was defined as one in which at least one family member was farmer.
(iv) Farmer was defined as a person who possesses some land and was engaged in agricultural
activities on any part of the land during the 365 days preceding the date of survey.
(v) Indebtedness refers to liability in each or kind
`
300 or more as value of transaction
Source:
NSSO (2005), Indebtedness of Farmer Households, Situation Assessment Survey of Farmers,
NSS 59
th
Round (January-December 2003), Report No. 498(59/33/1)
Institutional Sources
(i)
For the indebted households, about 58 per cent of loans have been
provide by institutional agencies (Table 2).
Table 2: Relative Share of Debt
#
of Cultivator Households
from Different Sources
(In per cent)
Sources of Credit
1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2002
Institutional of which:
7.3 18.7 31.7 63.2 66.3 61.1
Co-op Soc/Banks, etc
3.3 2.6 22.0 29.8 30.0 30.2
Commercial Banks
0.9 0.6 2.4 28.8 35.2 26.3
Non-Institutional of which:
92.7 81.3 66.3 36.8 30.6 38.9
Moneylenders
69.7 49.2 36.1 16.1 17.5 26.8
Unspecified
-
-
-
-
3.1
-
Total
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Note:
# : Debt refers to outstanding cash dues
Source:
Reserve Bank of India (RBI), All-India Rural Credit Survey, 1951-52; RBI, All India Rural
and Debt Investment Survey, 1961-62 and NSSO, All-India Debt and Investment Surveys, 1971-
72, 1981-82, 1991-92 and 2003.
(ii)
A comparison over recent quinquennial surveys shows a decline in the
share of institutional debt outstanding of cultivator households from
66.3 per cent in 1991 to 61.1 per cent in 2002 and a corresponding
increase in the dependence of cultivators on money lenders. But, the
decline from institutional sources has occurred under the category of
