Bonding with farmers of Ichhapur and Nandgaon Bagud - A Transformative Contribution

Background:

 Name : Jagdeo Verma (Cell No. 9424013532)

 Designation Now: Chief Manager (Trg) SBLC, INDORE.

 Designation then: Chief Manager (Agri) RBO Khandwa (Region II of Bhopal Module in Bhopal Circle. RBO Khandwa covers six districts of M.P.

 Time : December 2004 to July 2008

 Place: Khargone Branch (Khargone distt of M.P.)


The Initial State.
 Village Ichhapur and Nandgaon Bagud is 18km away from our Khargone branch linked by kutcha road ( accessibility was difficult during rainy season)

 Total population of the village was :

Ichhapur- 2000 approx (150 families-. Farmers 125 and landless laborers 25)

Nandgaon Bagud- 3000 approx ( 250 family- Farmers 200 landless 50 )

 Average land holding range from 4 to 5 acres

 80% of the land was un-irrigated.

 Farmers were poor and productivity was very low.

 Literacy rate was very low.

 The villages were linked to milk route.



The Proposed Solution

Mr Garg, Branch Manager of Khargone branch proposed that:

o The entire loan amount under Dairy plus scheme for purchase of cattle should be disbursed in advance in cash to increase the bargaining power of the farmers and to enable them to bring good quality cattle from markets of Haryana or Punjab State.




o Branch Manager of Khargone branch initially proposed such 5 cases.



o As Chief Manager (Agri), I have permitted the proposal as a very special case.



o The result was encouraging and those 5 farmers purchased high yielding good quality cattle from Punjab and Haryana and invested more than the prescribed margin as proposed in the loan.



o Looking in to the success of the above, more number of loan cases were financed on the same fashion.



o Although the Branch Manager of the Khargone branch were transferred, I continued to focus on the branch and encouraged the new Branch Manager Mr Arvind Gupta to provide finance to the farmers of the above two villages.



o I have also motivated the branch people to explore the possibilities of financing under Kisan Sarpat Scheme and housing loan under Gram Niwas Yojana.



o As a result of the above efforts, the branch was able to finance 160 dairy plus loans, 70 KCC for raising crops, 50 Kisan Sarpat (motor cycle ), 120 housing loan under Gram Niwas for construction/renovation of house/ cattle shed with specific sanction for latrine and bath room.



o The branch has also financed under minor irrigation to 19 borrowers( for bringing water to the village from a nearby dam, which is situated 4.5km away from the village, by laying under ground pipe line )



o Under community service banking, bank donated a big water tank to the village for providing drinking water to the cattle.



o We motivated the farmers of the village to send their children to schools, as drop outs were very large in primary level.



o To enhance the visibility of our bank, and to motivate children, every school children at the village were provided with school bags embossed with the name of SBI.



o A literate person, Mr Babu Lal from the village (resource person) voluntarily helped the bank in collecting monthly installment from borrowers, prepared their list in soft copy which helped the branch in posting the transaction through trickle feed.



o There was no NPA in those villages.



o The branch has recognized those villages as no default village and displayed a big board at the entrance of the village in this regard.





Realized End State.



Customer Wins


A Co –operative milk society was formed in the village on AMUL pattern, equipped with computerized measuring and accessing system for checking the quality of milk and determining the value of milk, which increase the confidence and income of the farmers

Financial status of the farmers improved
Literacy of the village improved.
Hygiene level increased due to construction of latrine and bathroom.
Land area under irrigation substantially increased.
Productivity also increased.
Farmers were freed from the clutches of local money lenders.


Bank Wins

Bonding with farmers emerged.

Image of the bank improved.
Confidence level of the branch staff increased.
Loan portfolio of the branch went up substantially.
Mechanism for recovery was so developed and effective that, no follow up needed for recovery.

There was no NPA
New business opportunities from other villages also emerged.



Sustainability Dynamic

The work is still continuing with more farmers coming in to the fold of SBI and business of the branch is increasing gradually. The Farmers of nearby villages, where other banks are serving, is also approaching the branch to start similar initiatives in their villages.