The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Ryots denied benefit of loan waiver: Kisan Sabha

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Ryots denied benefit of loan waiver: Kisan Sabha

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPI-led All India Kisan Sabha has said that real farmers are being denied the benefit of the Centre’s loan waiver scheme.

Kisan Sabha State general secretary Sathyan Mokeri and State president V. Chamunni told a news conference here on Friday that only farmers who had taken loan between March 31, 1997, and March 31, 2007, and who had repayment arrears were being given the benefit of repayment.

Those who had taken loans during the period from cooperative banks and scheduled commercial banks and who had been forced by the banks to renew their loans were being denied the benefit of the waiver scheme. As many as 3 lakh farmers had lost the benefit of the waiver scheme on account of this, they said.

In many cases, the banks had forced the farmers to take higher amounts as loans from which the original loan amount, its interest and penal interest were deducted. The Kisan Sabha leaders said majority of those who had benefited from the loan waiver scheme were private moneylenders, business people and those in government service who had pledged gold for taking agricultural loans. In many such instances, the banks had given such loans to adhere to the norm that 20 per cent of their lending should be for agricultural purposes. Since agricultural loans carried only a low interest of 7 per cent, many had taken such loans to lend it to people at usurious rates of interest.

They called upon the State government to take up the matter with the Central government immediately and said that the Kisan Sabha would organise marches to select bank branches in all districts from July 25 to 30 and a march to the Nabard office here on July 29 to press the case of the farmers who had been denied the benefit of the loan waiver scheme.

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