Srinagar, Mar 18: The J&K Grameen Bank today inaugurated a Farmers’ Club at Ogmuna, Tangmarg in Varmul under a National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) programme.
 Christened as Noorani Farmers’ the Club was inaugurated by general manager Grameen Bank, Muhammad Altaf Bhat.
 The aim of the Club as envisaged by NABARD in its scheme is to transmit the latest agricultural techniques to Farmers and orient them to establish better relationship with the Bank.
 Speaking on the occasion the Bhat said the programme had been launched under the name “Vikas Volunteer Vahini” later renamed as Farmers’ Club.
 Throughout the country some 38000 such clubs are successfully operating and benefit the rural people in the sphere of banking and allied activities.
 He said the Grameen Bank has taken this progamme in a big way so as to reach the grassroots through their own representatives in such clubs.
 The club headed by a chief coordinator will be having more than ten members who will help devising schemes as per the local needs and identify the local talent to be helped by the Banks by way of providing them with the loans and other services.
 He termed the creation of such clubs as collective effort to make the rural areas prosperous and expose these areas in latest technological benefits.
 He said that Farmers’ Clubs are grassroots level informal forums, organized by rural branches of banks, throughout the country to provide package of initiatives for transfer of technology, improving input use efficiency and promoting investments in agriculture both in private and in public sectors and creating a favourable and enabling economic environment.
 These Clubs are organized with the support and financial assistance of NABARD for the mutual benefit of the banks concerned and rural people.
 Masood Ahmed from advances department of the bank spoke on the five principles of the programme.

5-KEY PRINCIPLES
● Credit must be used in accordance with the most suitable methods of science and technology.
● The terms and conditions of credit must be fully respected.
● Work must be done with skill so as to increase production and productivity.
●  A part of the additional income created by credit must be saved.
● Loan instalments must be repaid in time and regularly so as to recycle credit.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 IST