Thu Jan 16 17:35:56 UTC 2025: ## Karnataka Farmers to Protest Reduced NABARD Funding
**Bengaluru, January 16, 2025** – The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) will hold a demonstration on January 29th outside the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Bengaluru to protest a significant reduction in funding from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
KRRS president Badagalpura Nagendra announced the protest, citing a drastic decrease in agricultural loans disbursed by NABARD. Last year, NABARD provided ₹5,600 crore in loans, but this year the amount has been slashed to ₹2,340 crore. This reduction, according to Nagendra, forces farmers to rely on private lenders charging higher interest rates, undermining the subsidized loans previously available through NABARD.
Nagendra expressed concern that this reduction, which he says has been occurring for the past three years, will severely harm the agricultural sector. The KRRS also criticized the practices of microfinance institutions, calling for stricter regulation by the RBI and the government to protect farmers from harassment during loan recovery. The protest aims to pressure authorities to reverse the funding cuts and address the concerns of Karnataka’s farmers.
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