Indebtedness among Weaker Sections in Rural Areas of South-West Punjab

This paper attempts to estimate the extent and magnitude of indebtedness among the different categories of weaker section households in south-west Punjab. The results indicated the average amount of debt per sampled households is found to be the highest in the case of the small farm household ( 260938), followed by the marginal farm ( 93585) the labour ( 64865) and the rural artisan ( 52051) households. The institutional agencies are the main source of credit, providing 54.78 percent of the total debt. An average weaker section household avails 38.17 percent of total loans for the agriculture and related activities. The highest amount of total loans has been taken at the rate of interest ranging from 0–10 percent per annum followed by the ranging of 20–30, 10–20 and 30–40 percent.