‘J&K UTLBC to prepare bank-wise data on lending to the priority sector, submit report by April 15’
By: Ibni Maqbool
Srinagar: In a significant move, J&K’s chief secretary Arun Kumar Mehta has directed the Union Territory Level Bankers Committee (UTLBC) to submit data on credit deposit (CD) ratio by April 15 to Finance department.
Documents in possession of The Precious Kashmir lay bare that CS directed the UTLBC to prepare and furnish bank-wise data on prevailing CD ratio both in the rest of India and that within UT of J&K.
The J&K UTLBC was also directed to prepare the bank-wise data on lending to the priority sector vis-a-vis their aggregate lending in J&K.
The UTLBC was directed to submit the data to the Finance Department by April, 15, 2022.
These directions were passed by the CS during 6th UTLBC meeting held on March 30, 2022, which was attended by representatives of banks and top bureaucrats of J&K.
In the meeting, the chief secretary directed banks to further improve their credit deposit ratio especially the banks with CD ratio below 40 percent.
In the meeting, the directions were also passed that reasons underlying poor CD ratio in Jammu district (below 40%) need to be examined by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) and a report along with its comments to be submitted to UTLBC within 15 days.
The directive was passed after participants were informed that all the districts in J&K have CD Ratio above 40% except Jammu where CD ratio was 32.38% as on December 31, 2021.
During the meeting, executive president, J&K UTLBC informed the House that as per the data received from the banks, the CD ratio in J&K has improved considerably from 51.75 percent as on 31.12.2020 to 56.57 percent as on 31.12.2021, reflecting growth of 9.41 percent year-over-year.
The UTLBC is the apex level forum of bankers / financial institutions operating in J&K. It reviews the performance of the banks/ developmental agencies under the annual credit plan and also sorts out issues and facilitates removal of difficulties being faced in the implementation of various employment generating/ poverty alleviation schemes of the government.