-Live Mint Experts say private banks achieve lending obligations by buying out loans from non-banking entities Most private banks in India have not been able to meet the needs of farmers although they are expanding their rural and semi-urban branch network. This is why the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is insisting that at least one-fourth of the branches of the new banks that will be given a licence must be located...

-Outlook The rot runs deep and cuts across states As expected, the farm loan waiver scam has hit the spotlight, with the Comptroller and Auditor General’s critical report being released in Parliament. Given the intense political grandstanding on display, many think this report (on the gaps in the implementation and monitoring of the Rs 52,275-crore scheme) has the potential to be a major political embarrassment for the UPA ahead of the...

-The Business Standard Asks banks to take immediate action against officials responsible for lapses A day after a Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report pointed out irregularities in the Rs 71,680-crore agricultural debt waiver and debt relief scheme of 2008, the Reserve Bank of India today swung into action. It asked lenders to verify all the accounts granted benefits under the scheme. RBI said administrative and accounting lapses on the part...

-The Hindu Evidence of tampering with, overwriting & alteration of records The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in a report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, pointed out that several ineligible farmers were favoured and a large number of deserving small and marginal farmers left out in implementation of the United Progressive Alliance’s much-touted Rs. 52,000-crore farm loan waiver scheme. The scheme, meant to help indebted farmers in districts where suicides occur, was so...

-The Hindustan Times The Comptroller and Auditor General has pulled up the department of financial services (DFS) for not properly monitoring the implementation of the Rs.52,000-crore debt waiver package. The DFS, under the finance ministry, depended completely on nodal agencies for monitoring the scheme that was announced by finance minister P Chidambaram in the 2008-09 budget, the report said. But, following the issue of the draft audit report, the ministry asked the RBI...