The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has taken up the Maa Thota scheme in Andhra Pradesh to improve the lot of tribal families, and it has made impressive strides so far, according to Mr K.V.S.S.L.V Prasada Rao, its Assistant General Manager.

At a press meet here on Saturday, on the occasion of the formation of the bank 30 years ago, he said Nabard had granted Rs. 27.75 crore to the State during 2011-12, benefiting 51,096 tribal families. The families were given assistance to take up cultivation of horticultural crops and for improvement of natural resources. In Visakhapatnam district, he said, 14 projects were taken up, benefiting 10,685 families. An amount of Rs 42.12 crore was sanctioned and Rs 12.92 crore was disbursed during the year.

During 2011-12, Nabard had disbursed Rs 5,422 crore in the State under production credit, registering a growth of 51 per cent over the previous year, he said. Of this amount, Rs 56.95 crore was released through commercial banks.

The disbursement under investment credit in the State amounted to Rs 2,369.80 crore. An amount of Rs 1,352 crore was sanctioned to the State Government under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund, the fifth highest in the country, and the disbursement was Rs 1,028 crore, also the fifth highest.

Mr Prasada Rao said Nabard had promoted 2,004 farmers’ clubs in the State during the year, taking the total to 7,338. An area of 4.83 lakh hectares was covered under 439 watershed projects in 16 distressed districts, with the total commitment of Rs 422.82 crore. Under the Nabard Infrastructure Development Assistance , Rs 140 crore was sanctioned and Rs 20 crore was disbursed during the year, he added.

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