Karnataka   

Banks accused of using unfair tactics

Staff Reporter

KASARAGOD: Promises of debt relief in Kasaragod district, declared as distressed by the State Government following the crisis in the agricultural sector and selected for implementing a Vidarbha-model package for the revival of the sector, remain a pipedream for the farmers. Organisations for farmers said farmer suicides continued in the district.

Kasaragod, Wayanad and Palakkad districts were selected by the authorities for implementing the revival package. Leaders of the Kisan Sena, an independent organisation of farmers with an active presence in the district and Karnataka, said financial institutions in Kasaragod employed unfair means to deny farmers the benefit of low interest rates on loans as per the Vidarbha-model package. Sena president Venkataramana Bhat and secretary Sooryanarayana Bhat said such financial institutions included public sector banks and cooperative banks.

Mr. Venkataramana Bhat said banks renewed the loans and allotted new loans to farmers without their knowledge. This was done to deny the farmers the benefits promised by the Government as only the loans overdue till a stipulated period were eligible for debt relief, said Mr. Bhat.

The organisation received had formal complaints from two farmers in the district that a cooperative bank had allotted them new loans without their knowledge. Prakash Ammannaya, legal adviser of the Sena, said they had received many informal complaints from across the district on the unfair practices being employed by the banks.

The Kisan Sena demanded that the State Government launch an inquiry into the dealings of the financial institutions in the district and initiate action against those found guilty of denying farmers the benefits of the relief package.

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