This story is from March 11, 2013

​Banks to raise funds for water scarcity-hit areas

The state cooperation department has decided to raise funds for people in the water scarcity-hit areas from cooperative banks and credit societies.
​Banks to raise funds for water scarcity-hit areas
PUNE: The state cooperation department has decided to raise funds for people in the water scarcity-hit areas from cooperative banks and credit societies. The total contribution would be close to Rs 150 crore, said officials from the state cooperation department.
Last week, state cooperation minister Harshvardhan Patil had made an announcement that funds will be raised for the scarcity hit areas.
In the backdrop of the announcement, the cooperative department has come up with a fund raising plan. The cooperative banks having Rs 50 crore deposits can contribute up to Rs 20 lakh and banks and credit societies with Rs 100 crore deposits can contribute up to Rs 50 lakh to the corpus being formed at the state level.
A draft has been prepared and submitted to state chief minister Prithviraj Chavan for his approval. Chavan is expected to finalize the proposal in the next couple of days and cooperative societies can release their funds to the corpus immediately after the CM’s nod.
The state cabinet, in its meeting on Wednesday, finalized the revised figures of villages and hamlets in the state that are dependent on tankers for the supply of drinking water. The figures have also been shared with the official from the state cooperation department and with the minister before finalizing the proposal.
A senior officer from the state cooperation department, on the condition of anonymity, said, “The cooperative societies and banks have gone through the phase of consolidation where many sick banks got merged into others. Today, the banks are in a good financial condition and can contribute to the state government's efforts to fight against water scarcity. The number of villages facing water scarcity is increasing every week, creating a pressure on the government to increase its expenses on tanker water supply and fodder procurement and sale.”

The data finalized by the state government states that there are 553 fodder camps providing fodder and water to 4.14 lakh cattle. The total expenditure on these camps is Rs 318.12 crore, while Rs 413.98 crore is disbursed to the water supply department for making arrangement of tankers.
The cooperative banks having Rs 50 crore deposits can contribute up to Rs 20 lakh and banks and credit societies with Rs 100 crore deposits can contribute up to Rs 50 lakh to the corpus being formed at the state level.
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About the Author
Nikhil Deshmukh

Nikhil Deshmukh is business correspondent at The Times of India, Pune. His areas of professional interest include business, socio-economic issues, politics, infrastructure, agriculture and entertainment. He writes on sports and wild life too. A movie buff, he loves trekking, biking and reading.

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