- The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has recently approved a study on impact assessment of Geographical Indication (GI) products to the Symbiosis School of Economics.
- GI is a mark used on products that have a specific geographical origin and have a quality or reputation due to that origin.
- Protection of intellectual property through laws will help in achieving benefits in terms of economic growth, employment and income generation.
NABARD
- NABARD is a development bank that primarily focuses on rural areas of the country. It is the apex banking institution for providing finance for agriculture and rural development.
- Its headquarters is located in the country’s financial capital Mumbai. Apart from agriculture, it is responsible for the development of small industries, cottage industries and rural projects.
- It is a statutory body which was established in the year 1982 under the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act, 1981.
Work
- NABARD’s programs are aimed at strengthening financial inclusion in rural India through specific goal oriented departments which can be broadly classified into three top divisions: Finance, Development and Inspection.
- It provides financial assistance for creation of rural infrastructure.
- It prepares district level credit plans to guide and motivate the banking industries in achieving the above goals.
- It supervises cooperative banks and regional rural banks and also helps them to connect to the CBS platform (Core Banking Solution).
History
- The importance of institutional credit for the development of rural economy becomes clear from the initial stages of government planning.
- In this sequence, in the year 1979, Shri B., a member of the immediate Planning Commission. On the request of the Government of India, under the chairmanship of Sivaraman, the Reserve Bank of India constituted a committee to review the system of institutional credit for agriculture and rural development.
- The Committee underlined the need for an organizational tool to focus on debt issues related to rural development.
- As a result, NABARD was established as a statutory body in the year 1982 under the National Agricultural Rural Development Bank Act, 1981.
- Its initial paid up capital was Rs 100 crore in which the share of Reserve Bank of India and Government of India was 50:50.