Revamped: Cooperative banks to help farmers with loans

Cooperative banks are being revamped to provide loans to farmers, said Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, stated a handout issued on Saturday.

He was speaking at a meeting he chaired at the CM Secretariat on the role of cooperative societies and banks in the province.

The chief minister expressed regret over the mismanagement of cooperative societies in the past.

Pervez Khattak said cooperative societies had become largely ineffective in the province.

The handout further stated previous leaders gave loans to the wrong people by “taking commission, kickbacks and liquidating the entire system.”

Once revamped, the banks will assist farmers with loans.

According to the handout, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has also decided to launch small hydel schemes, introduce tube wells that operate on solar energy and establish handicraft centres for women in rural areas.

Furthermore, it will help recover loans of Rs200 million which were embezzled by past regimes, it added.

The CM has also decided to provide small loans to the farmers through the Bank of Khyber, the handout added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2014.