Govt’s Online Aid for Farmers: The Digital Gateway

The government has launched an online digital gateway named “e-Upaja Kisaan Nidhi” to facilitate post-harvest financing for farmers. This initiative enables farmers to store their agricultural produce with the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) and secure post-harvest loans from banks at an interest rate of 7% per annum.

What is the digital gateway?

The digital gateway is a user-friendly platform that simplifies the process for farmers to store their produce at any of the approximately 5600 WDRA-registered warehouses for six months. The farmers can generate electronic negotiable warehousing receipts (e-NWRs) to access bank credit for the subsequent crop. The digital gateway also verifies farmers’ details through an integrated database of UIDAI, CBDT, repositories, and CIBIL scores. Moreover, the platform furnishes information regarding loans offered by various banks.

What are the benefits of the digital gateway?

The digital gateway aims to empower farmers with access to pledge finance against harvested commodities. This can prevent distress sale by farmers who often have to sell their entire harvest at reduced rates due to inadequate post-harvest storage facilities. The digital gateway also allows farmers to sell their commodities above the minimum support price (MSP) through the integration of e-NWRs and e-NAM, the digital wholesale agri-marketing platform. The food minister has also urged the WDRA to waive off the security fee for storing agri produce of small farmers to avail credit from banks.

How to access the digital gateway?

The digital gateway can be accessed through the official website of WDRA (https://wdra.gov.in/). The farmers need to register themselves on the portal and provide their Aadhaar number, PAN number, bank account details, and mobile number. The farmers can then select a WDRA-registered warehouse near their location and deposit their produce there. The warehouse will issue an e-NWR to the farmer, which can be used as collateral to obtain a loan from any bank listed on the portal.

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