Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Sahkarita Kisan Kalyan Yojana

The scheme “Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Sahkarita Kisan Kalyan Yojana” was introduced by the Cooperative Department, Government of Uttarakhand. The scheme aims to provide interest-free loans to farmers and self-help groups for agricultural and non-agricultural activities to promote self-employment and strengthen the rural economy.

Under the scheme, an interest-free loan of up to ₹1.00 lakh is provided for agricultural activities, up to ₹3.00 lakh for non-agricultural activities (such as animal husbandry, dairy, poultry, fisheries, cultivation of herbs, aromatic plants, spices, mushrooms, floriculture, horticulture, agricultural processing, farm mechanization, organic farming, off-season vegetable cultivation, poly-house farming, etc.), and up to ₹5.00 lakh for self-help groups (SHGs).

1. The applicant must be a general, small, or marginal farmer, or a farmer living below the poverty line, including their family members or a self-help group (SHG) from Uttarakhand.
2. The applicant must be a member of the cooperative society in their respective area or hold a savings account in the District Cooperative Bank.
3. Only one member from a family will be eligible to receive benefits under the scheme.
4. The benefits of the scheme will not be extended to defaulting cooperative members.
5. Currently, there is no income limit prescribed for farmers to avail of the scheme’s benefits.

(Note: A small farmer is one who owns up to 5 acres of unirrigated land or up to 2.5 acres of irrigated land. A marginal farmer is one who owns up to 2.5 acres of unirrigated land or up to 1.25 acres of irrigated land.)

Offline

• For loans ranging from ₹1 lakh to ₹3 lakh, applicants must be members of a cooperative society. If they wish to obtain a loan directly from a bank, they must become nominal members.
• The applicant must first obtain an application form from the bank or committee. The application form should include the applicant’s photograph, Aadhaar card, PAN card, work plan, annual income and expenditure details, and other relevant loan information. The applicant must also provide details of movable and immovable assets, such as land, deposits, etc. Two guarantors are required for the loan, and information about their movable and immovable assets must also be submitted.
• After submitting the application form along with land certificates, account records, and the Kisan Card to the relevant bank or committee, the block-level committee will select beneficiaries, cover them under the scheme, and sanction the loans accordingly.
• For loans up to ₹5 lakh, the group must submit a project report or proposal, as this loan is sanctioned to the group rather than to individual members. It is mandatory for the group to maintain an account with a cooperative bank. Self-help groups availing benefits under the scheme must be registered for activities covered by agriculture or agriculture-related schemes operated by the State or Central Government.
• The repayment period for a short-term loan of ₹1 lakh (crop loan) sanctioned under the scheme is one year from the date of disbursement. For a medium-term loan of ₹3 lakh, the repayment period is three years from the date of disbursement, and a project report is also required for such loans.
• The target for loan distribution under the scheme is determined based on the budget provisioned for each financial year. It is mandatory to obtain crop insurance for short-term agricultural loans sanctioned for crops notified under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. The cooperative bank itself will arrange for the insurance of such agricultural loans.
• If a farmer does not receive a loan in a particular year but requires it in the following year, the department will consider his previously submitted application for processing in the next year.

Process of Becoming a Member of the Cooperative Society:

• Interested applicants can apply for membership by filling out the prescribed membership application form available at the concerned society’s office and by depositing ₹108/- as the membership fee.
• The Board of Directors reviews the membership application through the relevant committee and either accepts or rejects it. To become a member, the applicant must provide a land ownership certificate for the area, a certificate from the Patwari confirming agricultural activity, and an Aadhaar card.