New Delhi, Nov 6 : The Finance Ministry has asked public sector banks to increase credit availability for animal husbandry, dairying, and fisheries to ensure that targets are met for the current financial year. The progress of credit disbursement to these agri-allied activities was reviewed at a high-level meeting held by Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), M. Nagaraju, according to a Finance Ministry statement issued on Wednesday.The meeting was attended by top officials of public sector banks, NABARD, and state/UT Level Bankers' Committee. Representatives of state governments/UTs, the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, and the Department of Fisheries also participated in the discussions.The Secretary also stressed the state governments to facilitate banks in improving the flow of credit to these sectors.He underscored the importance of the allied sector in driving agricultural growth and its employment potential in rural areas and highlighted the trend of regional disparity in credit disbursement in allied activities. He directed banks to conduct regional-level meetings to ensure disbursement of credit in all areas as all regions have huge potential in allied activities. The Secretary also directed NABARD to coordinate with state line departments and LDMs in the identification of fish farmers and providing them with benefits of the KCC scheme.Nagaraju underlined the Centre's focus on seamless access to affordable credit to the allied sector and urged all stakeholders to take necessary steps to increase credit flow to the sector, the statement added.As part of the Centre's thrust to boost rural incomes, the Union Budget 2024-25 has hiked the allocation for the Department of Fisheries by 54 per cent to Rs 2,616.44 crore from Rs. 1,701 crore (revised estimate) during 2023-24. The sector provides sustainable livelihoods to over 30 million people mostly within the marginalised and vulnerable communities.As much as Rs 2,352 crore of the total outlay has been allocated for the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) scheme which is a 56 per cent increase over the outlay of Rs 1,500 crore for 2023-24.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced plans for setting up a network of a Nucleus Breeding Centre (NBC) for high-quality shrimp brood stocks.Further, financing for shrimp farming, processing and export will be facilitated through NABARD. Establishment of state-of-the-art facilities in NBCs will improve the genetic quality of aquaculture species for higher productivity and quality, and reduce the dependence on the import of shrimp brood stock, according to the Department of Fisheries. /IANS