ZTBL being automated to facilitate farmers, PAC told
By Asad Cheema

ISLAMABAD—Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly was informed on Wednesday that under a gigantic plan worth $ 18 million, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd (ZTBL) was being automated to facilitate the farmers and simplify the process of grant of loans.
This was stated by ZTBL President Rashid Akthar Chughtai while giving the PAC a briefing on the steps being taken to improve working of the bank.
The PAC meeting chaired by Malik Allah Yar Khan,MNA was examining theAudit Reports related to Finance Division for the Year 2000-01. The President ZTBL informed the committee that all the regionaloffices of the bank would be computerized by end of December which will be a landmark achievement.
“We are working on a vision under which the farmers will have tovisitthe ZTBL only once.They will be issued Identity Cards which will enable them to get ZTBL loans from any part of the country without any hassles”, Rashid Chughtai told the PAC.
Riaz Fatiana,MNA suggested that ZTBL should issue credit cards to thefarmers so that they can purchase seeds,fertilizers and pesticides from the market.On this the ZTBL president said that without automation of thebank issuance of credit cards was not possible.He said that work for early automationof the bank was being done on war footing.
The PAC also directed the President ZTBL to provide the list of 101 persons whose over Rs 4 bn loans were written off under State Bank’s Circular 29,giving guidelines for wring off irrecoverable loans. He told the PAC that the bank reduced the mark up rate from 14 percent to 8 per cent in accordance with President Pervez Musharraf’s agriculture package to provide maximum benefit to the farmers.He admitted that the reduction in mark up rate has resulted in loss to the bank.However,Chairman PAC opined that there might also be some administrative reasons behind the present loss to the bank.
Rashid Chughtai admitted that corruption in ZTBL was “an open secret” but added that he has dismissed about 50 corrupt officials and disciplinary action was taken against hundreds of them.
He told the committee that now ZTBL is playing the role of a catalystin the rural and agriculture sector for alleviating poverty and ensuring greater outreach for cost effective and timely credit to the farmers. He said that making the bank a corporate entity pension system has been abolished by the management.
ZTBL is attaching priority to extend agricultural credit to small farmers which will basically augment the farmers capacity not only to increase their yield but also to ensure that requisite amount of cash flow is accrued to them for repaying the loan, he said.