Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda today urged the Union Finance Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee to increase upper limit of loan under Debt Swap Scheme, make tenants and sharecroppers eligible for taking agricultural loans, provide interest subvention to the loaners of Long Term Cooperative Credit Structure and decrease the rate of interest charged by the banks from BPL families in Self Help Groups.<br/><br/>Mr. Hooda, who was speaking in the meeting of Chief Ministers of North Zone States held under the Chairmanship of Union Finance Minister at Chandigarh today, said that upper limit of loan under Debt Swap Scheme should be increased from 50,000 rupees to two lakh rupees, as the maximum amount of loan disbursed under this scheme is quite inadequate to make any significant impact on indebtedness.<br/><br/>Mr. Hooda said that presently, banks are seeking collateral of agricultural land for securing agricultural loans, which is valued at a very conservative rate. He said that Commercial banks should follow the cooperative banks of state where floor rates fixed by Government are the minimum value for the purposes of collateral benefit.<br/><br/>He also suggested that the rate of interest charged by the banks from BPL families in Self Help Groups should not be more than seven per cent. Presently, banks are charging interest at the rate ranging from nine per cent to 12 per cent from BPL families in Self Help Groups. He stressed on launch of a time bound campaign to cover all the eligible farmers under Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme.<br/><br/>The Chief Minister also urged the Union Finance Minister to allow Haryana to avail the benefit of the Central scheme- Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY) by converging it with Rajiv Gandhi Bima Yojana which is being implemented by the Haryana Government in place of AABY as it is more beneficial for the people of the State.