Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank: For Inland Fishing

What is the PCARDB inland fishing loan?

The Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank inland fishing loan is a long-term investment credit line of the Cooperation, Food and Consumer Protection Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, delivered through the state's Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (PCARDBs). The Tamil Nadu scheme directory records a loan of up to Rs 3,30,000 per hectare for inland fishing at an interest rate in the band of 11 to 12 per cent a year, subject to change.

PCARD banks are not ordinary branches. According to the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, 180 Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks function at taluk and block level in Tamil Nadu, under the Tamil Nadu Cooperative State Agriculture and Rural Development Bank. Their defined purpose is long-term credit to farmers: minor irrigation, land development, farm mechanisation, horticulture, animal husbandry and allied activities such as fish culture. They lend against land, over periods of years rather than months, which is exactly the shape of finance a fish pond needs.

Inland fishing here means fish culture in ponds, tanks and other inland water bodies: not marine fishing. Tamil Nadu's Fisheries Department promotes inland fish culture in farm ponds, panchayat tanks and irrigation tanks, and the money a farmer needs is front-loaded: excavating or desilting the pond, bund strengthening, inlet and outlet work, liming, seed stocking, feed for the growth cycle, netting and harvesting gear. Income arrives only at harvest, several months later. That mismatch is what a long-term loan is for.

One caution you should read before spending anything. The Registrar of Cooperative Societies records that Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks are at present issuing only jewel loans out of the funds available to them. Long-term investment credit at these banks depends on refinance, and where refinance is constrained, the investment heads including inland fishing may not be open at your taluk bank. Ask the bank directly whether the head is live before you pay for a project report or a survey.

Who is eligible for the inland fishing loan?

You can apply if:

• You are a farmer or fish farmer resident in Tamil Nadu, within the area of operation of the PCARD bank in your taluk.
• You own the land on which the pond or tank lies, and can produce the chitta, adangal and patta, or you hold a registered long lease over the water body.
• You can produce a clean encumbrance certificate showing the land is free of a prior charge.
• You become a member of the PCARD bank. These banks lend to their members, and membership is taken alongside the loan.
• You can produce a unit estimate or project report for the fish culture, ideally prepared with the Fisheries Department's Inspector of Fisheries or the Assistant Director of Fisheries for the district.
• You are not in default to the PCARD bank, the primary agricultural cooperative credit society, or any other bank.

You cannot apply, or will not be sanctioned, if:

• You have no land to offer as security and no registered lease. This is the hardest requirement, and a landless applicant is effectively not eligible for PCARD long-term credit; the route in that case is the Kisan Credit Card for fisheries through a commercial bank or a primary agricultural cooperative credit society.
• The land carries a prior mortgage disclosed by the encumbrance certificate.
• You are an existing defaulter to any cooperative institution.
• You are outside the taluk served by the bank. PCARD banks operate within defined territorial limits.
• The activity is marine fishing. This head is for inland fish culture; marine fishermen are served by the Fisheries Department's own schemes and by fishermen cooperative societies.
• The head is closed for want of funds at your bank at the time you apply.

How to apply for the PCARDB inland fishing loan

1. Call at the Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank in your taluk and ask whether the inland fishing head is currently open. Given the Registrar's note that PCARD banks are presently issuing only jewel loans out of available funds, this is the first question, not the last.
2. Meet the Fisheries Department officer for your area, the Inspector of Fisheries or the Assistant Director of Fisheries at the district — and get a technical estimate for the pond area you intend to develop, covering pond preparation, seed, feed, liming and harvesting.
3. Assemble the land documents. Get a current chitta and adangal, the patta, and a fresh encumbrance certificate from the sub-registrar. Encumbrance certificates take time; start here.
4. Collect the loan application form at the PCARD bank counter and complete the membership formality if you are not already a member.
5. Fill the form completely, attach the estimate, the land documents, Aadhaar, address proof, bank passbook and photographs, and self-attest each photocopy.
6. Submit the application and take an acknowledgement with a reference number and date.
7. Attend the field inspection. A bank supervisor visits the site to confirm the water body exists, the area matches the estimate and the land corresponds to the patta.
8. Complete the mortgage formalities once the loan is recommended. PCARD lending is secured on land, so a mortgage deed is executed and registered.
9. Take disbursement in stages against progress of the work, and collect the repayment schedule in writing.

What documents are required?

How much does it cost, and how is it repaid?

The directory records 11 to 12 per cent a year for this head, subject to change. Treat that as a band rather than a quotation, long-term cooperative rates move with the refinancing agency's rate and each bank's board decisions.

Costs to confirm before signing:

• Processing and inspection charges.
• Stamp duty and registration on the mortgage deed, which at PCARD banks is a real cost item.
• Legal scrutiny fee for the title examination.
• Penal interest on overdue instalments.

Repayment is structured long-term, usually in annual or half-yearly instalments timed to the harvest cycle, often after a short gestation period during which only interest is serviced. Get the schedule in writing at disbursement and keep it with the passbook.

How do I check the status of my application?

There is no online tracker for cooperative bank loans in Tamil Nadu.

1. Keep the acknowledgement issued at submission.
2. Follow up with the Secretary or Special Officer of the PCARD bank in the taluk, who can say whether the file is at inspection, legal scrutiny or sanction stage.
3. Escalate to the Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies for your district at the District Collectorate.
4. Beyond that, the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Chennai, through rcs.tn.gov.in.

Why applications get rejected, and how to fix them

• The head is not funded. The most likely outcome at present. Ask whether the file is rejected or merely held for want of funds, and ask to be placed on the list for the next allocation.
• Encumbrance certificate shows a prior charge. Clear or redeem the earlier loan and obtain a fresh certificate.
• Patta not in the applicant's name, most often because a family partition was never registered. Get the revenue records mutated first.
• Estimate not technically supported. A self-prepared estimate without the Fisheries Department's input is routinely returned. Get it endorsed.
• Leased water body without a registered lease. An oral or unregistered lease will not support a long-term loan.
• Existing default at the primary agricultural cooperative credit society in the same village. Settle it first. The two institutions share information.

Where do I raise a grievance?

• The Secretary or Special Officer of the Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank in your taluk.
• The Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies for your district, at the District Collectorate.
• The Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Chennai, through rcs.tn.gov.in.
• The Assistant Director of Fisheries for the district, for anything relating to the technical estimate or a parallel departmental subsidy.

No agent can get a cooperative loan sanctioned for a fee. The application form is free at the bank counter, and every charge levied must appear on the sanction letter.