Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 25: Bharatiya Janata Party, (BJP) Jammu & Kashmir in its vision document for the planned development of the State issued prior to the 2014 Assembly elections had envisaged a scheme ‘Arms to Farms’ in which soft loans were to be provided to ex-servicemen for herbal cultivation to include Lavender Farms.
Brig Anil Gupta, a senior leader of the ex-servicemen and State spokesperson of BJP in a letter to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had requested the Ministry of Defence to facilitate launching of the scheme. Mr Parrikar has informed Brig Gupta in writing that the scheme is being promoted through “Self-Employment for Ex-Servicemen Scheme II (SEMFEX II).” The scheme is being promoted with the assistance of NABARD. Agro/food processing units can be set up irrespective of location in rural and urban areas. There is no upper limit for loan in respect of projects under farm sector. NABARD provides interest free soft loan assistance to banks to meet the margin money requirement. The primary lending institutions are Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks, and State Co-operative Banks etc.
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