Calcutta Diary

AM THE charade goes on. The Union Ministry of Finance is apparently having sleepless nights over the plight of the weaker sections, It will not brook any further nonsense. By the end or the Sixth Five-Year Plan, the share of the weaker sections in the aggregate advances, it has admonished the hanks, must he doubled. It has also taken care to define the weaker sections: those whose requirements from the banks are less than Rs 23,000 constitute the fraternity of the weak. That is not all. The hunks have also been told to ensure the flew of at least 50 per cent of their direct fin a net; to agriculture to such small and marginal farmers whose requirements for credit arc less than