Nabard, SBI sign pact to promote Joint Liability Groups

State Bank of India (SBI)

Rural development bank Nabard and State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday signed an MoU with five NGOs of the state for promoting 2,500 Joint Liability Groups (JLGs).

These JLGs operate in Purulia, West Midnapore, East Midnapore, Burdwan and North 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal.

JLGs are credit groups of small/marginal/tenant farmers who do not have proper title of their farmland.

The MoU for promotion of 2,500 JLGs in the state will facilitate SBI to extend financial assistance to the financially excluded sections of the society, especially landless farmers.

The project will be scaled up in a phased manner to cover the remaining districts of the state, a statement said.

As each JLG have 4-10 members, around 12,500 tenant farmers can be extended institutional finance under the present arrangement, a Nabard official said.