Taking into account the financial hardships that farmers of India have long had to go through, the Indian government launched the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme in the year 1998. Issued by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the Kisan Credit Card offers farmers the ability to avail formal short-term credit facilities to take care of their needs.
Thanks to this scheme, farmers don’t have to approach individuals for informal loans, which are often issued at exorbitant interest rates. This basically allowed farmers to get easy access to loans and that too at attractive KCC interest rates. That’s not all. The repayment period for KCC loans are very flexible and relaxed as well, allowing farmers to repay upon harvest of their produce.
Want to know how to apply for a Kisan Credit Card online? Continue reading to find out. But before that, let’s quickly take a look at the Kisan Credit Card eligibility criteria.
Kisan Credit Card Eligibility
The following individuals are eligible to apply for a Kisan Credit Card.
- Farmer residing within the given bank’s jurisdiction.
- Individual farmers or joint borrowers of the cultivation land.
- Farmers who are cultivators as well as an individual landowner.
- Tenant farmers, croppers, shared croppers, or farmers on leased cultivable lands.
- Joint liability groups or self-help groups formed by tenant farmers or shared croppers.
- Farmers whose production credit is Rs. 5,000 or more.
- Farmers aged between 18 and 75 years.
- If a farmer is more than 60 years of age, a legal heir co-borrower is mandatory.
In addition to agricultural farmers, farmers and tenant farmers operating in the marine fisheries, inland fisheries, aquaculture, poultry, and dairy industries are also eligible to apply for the Kisan Credit Card.
How to Apply for a Kisan Credit Card?
Now that you know the Kisan Credit Card eligibility criteria, let’s quickly take a look at the Kisan Credit Card online apply process that you would have to follow.
- Visit the official website of the bank that’s authorised to issue Kisan Credit Cards.
- Navigate to the ‘Cards’ section of the bank’s website.
- Choose Kisan Credit Card from the list of available options.
- Fill the online Kisan Credit Card application form and attach all the necessary documents along with it.
- Submit the application.
Once you’ve successfully submitted the application, you will be provided with a reference number. Keep this number safe, since it can be used for tracking the application and for seeking other clarifications. The bank will process your application and should get back to you within 3 to 4 working days.
Conclusion
As you can see for yourself, the application process for the Kisan Credit Card is really easy and can be completed within minutes. Alternatively, if you prefer to not apply for the card online, you have the option to do it offline as well. In that case, you would have to visit the bank’s branch physically and submit the Kisan Credit Card application form along with the required documents.
