Study of Utilization of Cooperative Loans, Programme Evaluation Organisation Planning Commission Government of India

Abstract

Availability of credit to agriculturists at economic rates of interest, for purposes and at the time credit is needed by them is an essential condition for the healthy functioning of an agricultural economy. Adequacy of credit is only one of the essential elements in a good credit system. In fact, as far as adequacy goes there are private lending agencies who may be able to meet the credit needs of the agriculturists in this country. More important are the qualitative factors among which, besides the rate of interest which has a prime place, other attributes such as the time when, the purposes for which, and the. classes of people to whom credit is available are quite important. The case for co-operative credit vis-à-vis credit from other agencies rests on the ground of its superiority on the quality counts and for its being a well-intentioned agency aiming at the economic betterment of its clientele. In a planned economy, cooperative credit also plays the essential role of promoting and aiding economic development on charted lines by regulating the volume and distribution of credit in accordance with the plans of agricultural production and development.