Annex (For Bankers) College of Agricultural Banking (CAB), RBI, Pune Announces Essay Competition on topics of agriculture &

rural development Agriculture in India has always been the prime economic sector, employing two thirds of the population and providing 1/7th of the GDP. The Agriculture sector not only ensures food security but is also considered as the supplier of fodder and raw materials for a vast section of the industry. The vibrancy of Indian agriculture can be counted as one of the necessary conditions for inclusive growth. There are however, several issues hampering agricultural productivity and integration of the vast rural population into the growth process. The CAB, under the aegis of its quarterly magazine, CAB Calling, is therefore, organizing an essay competition for generating ideas for developing bankable schemes integrating the small farmers, marginal rural workers and the rural unemployed with the second layer in the agriculture value chain comprising warehousing, branding, quality assurance, marketing etc. We would like the staff members working at different units of various banks (Scheduled CBs, RRBs, SCBs, NABARD & RBI) to contribute fresh ideas and thoughts through the competition on what should be the policy issues that need to be addressed by RBI, GOI and other authorities concerned in achieving the objective of inclusive growth. The details and the terms & conditions of the competition are as under: A. Participants Staff members of banks (Scheduled Commercial Banks, RRBs & State Cooperative Banks NABARD & RBI) can participate in the competition. Participants have the option of contributing on only one of the topics given below. B. Topics 1. Sub optimal land holdings and inclusive growth - Co-operation or Corporatization enabling policy initiatives required.

(Indian agriculture is dominated by small farmers, having small land holdings for cultivation. The declining size of landholdings is resulting in fall in farm income and agrarian distress. In the Indian scenario of sub-optimal small holdings, are cooperatives the answer? Or is corporatization a better alternative? How can the economic benefits arising out of such aggregation be retained with the small land holders / rural population and not be siphoned out of the rural economy? What are the models that can be developed and policy initiatives that may be required to encourage aggregation of holdings and agricultural operations through such cooperatives/corporates).

OR 2. Integrated value chain finance a catalyst for inclusive growth.

(The problems facing the agricultural sector are that despite a good yield, the farmers very often suffer losses due to a variety of reasons. These include poor infrastructure for remote households, seasonality of products, price distortions, lack of risk perceptions, lack of storage capabilities, lack of processing, grading, risk mitigation, packaging, branding and quality assurance and the difficulty of analyzing and assessing proper cash flow needs. Many of these factors contribute to market disruptions such as side selling, increased risk, and general failure to access finance. We are looking for suggestions and innovative ideas for developing commercially viable models for agro-processing and marketing services that meet the needs of the various participants in the rural economy including small / marginal farmers in the value chain. How can the benefits arising out of implementation of these ideas be retained with the rural economy / small farmers etc. leading to rise in rural income, instead of being siphoned out of the rural economy?)

C. Language and word limit The essay may be either in English or Hindi and should not be of more than 5,000 words. D. Prizes 1st Prize 2nd Prize 3rd Prize Consolation Prize (1) Rs. 20,000/Rs. 15,000/Rs. 10,000/Rs. 5,000/-

(Besides the cash prizes to winners, certificates will also be awarded to the winners and the shortlisted entries. The CAB reserves the right to publish prize winning (and also other well written essays) in its journal CAB Calling. For the non-prize winning entries published in the journal a token honorarium upto Rupees Two thousand five hundred may be paid to the author.) E. Criteria for evaluation The entries will be evaluated on following criteria: Originality of ideas Implementability of ideas Clarity of presentation _ 40% weightage 40% weightage 20% weightage

F. Last date for submission of entries Entries (Application-cum-Delaration in Proforma 1, Two copies of the essay and bonafide certificate as per G(v) below issued by the organisation) in sealed envelopes, superscribed with the words Essay Competition, may be submitted either in person or through post / courier to the following address: The Editor CAB Calling College of Agricultural Banking Reserve Bank of India University Road Pune 411016 The last date for receipt of entries in CAB is 15th October 2012. The entries received after the said date will not be considered. G. Other terms and conditions i. The entry should be original and should not have been published earlier. The participant has to furnish a signed declaration (in Proforma-1 enclosed) to this effect along with the entry. ii. Format requirement:The entries should be typed in an A4 size paper , font size shall be 12 point (English ) in Times New Roman or 11 point (Hindi) in Mangal Unicode format with 1.5 interlinear space. The word limit set for the essay should be strictly adhered to. iii. All references and materials from other sources should be duly acknowledged. iv. The participants should sign on the bottom right hand side of every page of the entry. v. A certificate from the branch / organization certifying eligibility of the participant should be enclosed along with the entries. vi. The participants should furnish their full postal address along with contact number; e-mail ID on the covering letter of the entry (in Proforma-1enclosed). vii. The decision of the independent panel of judges shall be final. viii. An essay may be contributed individually or by more than one person jointly. The prize in such cases will be shared among the team members.

H. For further clarifications, the following persons in CAB may be contacted Shri S.V. Sardesai Shri S.T. Punnoose Smt. M Rama Kumari : Mobile No 8600999464; : Mobile No 9096002603; : Mobile No 9096002476; *** email ID : svsardesai@rbi.org.in email ID : stpunnoose@rbi.org.in email ID : mramakumari@rbi.org.in

The soft copy of this may be downloaded from CAB website: www.cab.org.in

PROFORMA - 1 Agriculture and Rural Development Essay Competition College of Agricultural Banking, Pune , Reserve Bank of India 1. Full Name (in block letters) 2. Date of Birth 3. Sex Application-cum-declaration : : :

4. Contact Details (Address/ Telephone No / Email id) (i) Address : ____________________________ ____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________

(ii) (iii)

Telephone/Mobile No. e-mail ID :

: :

5. Name of Organisation 6. Designation

7. Topic Selected for the competition : 8. Declaration: I/We hereby submit the enclosed essay as an entry for the captioned competition. We have read and understood all the terms and conditions of the competition and declare that my/our entry meets all the requirements of the competition. I/We also hereby declare that the ideas/opinion submitted/expressed in the enclosed essay are my/our own and the essay has not been published earlier in any other magazine/journal. Place : Date : Signature Name : __________________ :