Maha govt to be guarantor for Rs 1 500-cr loan of cotton body

    Mumbai, Jan 20 (PTI) The Maharashtra government on
Wednesday decided to stand guarantor for a Rs 1,500 crore bank
loan taken by the State Co-operative Cotton Growers Marketing
Federation to pay farmers for procuring their produce at
minimum support price (MSP).
    The decision was taken at the weekly cabinet meeting
chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
    The federation has taken a loan of Rs 1,500 crore from
Bank of Maharashtra at 6.35 per cent interest rate annually.
    The state government has also waived the guarantee fee
to be charged from the federation for the loan, a statement
from the Chief Ministers Office (CMO) said.
    The statement said the Central government has
announced an MSP of Rs 5,825 per quintal for long staple
cotton and Rs 5,515 for medium staple cotton for the 2020-21
kharif season.
    Due to satisfactory monsoon in 2020 and favourable
weather conditions, production of 400 lakh quintal of cotton
is expected in the state, it said.
    The statement said cotton prices have come down in
international market and also in the open market, and the
Centre has increased the MSP.
    Cotton procurementthis year in Maharashtra is
expected to be more than what it was the lastseason, it
added.
    In another decision, the cabinet gave a green signal
for private banks to handle government banking transactions.
    As of now, only PSU banks are allowed to handle
transactions of government offices, public undertakings,
boards and corporations as well as salaries and pension of
government employees and retirees.
    The cabinet approved participation of private banks in
these transactions in a limited way.
    For salaries and allowances, accounts can be opened in
private banks approved by the state government, the statement
said.
    Account holders can use banking technologyfor which
no additional charge will be levied, the statement said.
    Government employees will be allowed to use accounts
in private banks only for salaries and they cannot deposit any
other funds in them, it added.
    Retired state employees can open pension account in
any of the private bank approved by the government.
    The statement said private banks will need to enter
into an MoU with the government for handling these
transactions. For this, they will have to submit their
proposal to the finance department by February 28.
    The cabinet also approved a proposal to implement the
central government-sponsored project in the education sector
called STARS - 'strengthening teaching, learning and results
for states.
    Apart from Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha,
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh Kerala have been chosen for the
project based on a performance grading index.
    The Centre will bear 60 per cent and the Maharashtra
government 40 per cent of the total expenditure of Rs 976
crore on the project in the next five years.
    Strengthening education and learning systems,
classroom instructions and bringing transparency in
educational system are among the goals of the project, the
statement said. PTI MR
RSY RSY

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)