LN Revathy

YES Bank is all set to roll out a capacity building project with farmers in Haryana and Rajasthan under its ‘Livelihood and Water Security’ CSR initiative.

Speaking about this initiative, Namita Vikas, President and Global Head – Climate Strategy and Responsible Banking, YES Bank, told BusinessLine that the overall focus of the programme would be on sustainable agricultural practices and digital literacy.

“Agriculture productivity has come under pressure during the last couple of years because of climate change and water security. This initiative is aimed at improving farmers’ access to finance, ensuring effective use of digital banking resources, and imparting good agricultural practices.

“We have proposed to roll out the programme during the current year in the States of Haryana and Rajasthan as two-thirds of the population in Rajasthan depend on agriculture for their livelihood.

“The programme would be rolled out initially across 15 districts (eight districts in Haryana and seven in Rajasthan) in these two States, impacting 10,900 farmers. Digital methodology would be used to train farmers. We have a monitoring mechanism in place,” she said.

Sumit Gupta, Group Head (Rural Banking and Small Medium Enterprises Banking), YES Bank, said the focus would be on the rural space. “We are trying to engage NBFCs in these two States to take this forward.”

“We will sensitise farmers on the best practices they should adopt rather than looking to protect their livelihood, and the programme would be open for all, including those that are not our customers,” he said.

comment COMMENT NOW