Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Debt waiver for farmers: delay likely in settlement

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The settlement of claims for agriculture debt-waiver from cooperative banks could be delayed due to a surge of complaints of borrowers who have been excluded from the packages. The officers deputed for redressing the complaints are finding it difficult to sort out complaints within the prescribed time.

Official sources told The Hindu that the number of borrowers is likely to change again before the deadline set by the Centre. On the basis of the data furnished by the 1,602 primary cooperative banks and 14 district cooperative banks, the Kerala State Cooperative Bank has crystallised a sum of Rs.1,109 crore of 6.19 lakh borrowers. These figures too may change in the final stage. The district cooperative banks in Palakkad, Wayanad and Idukki are getting many complaints from borrowers who have been excluded from the packages for a one-time settlement scheme, meant for bringing down the rate of non-performing assets (NPAs).

The Wayanad District Cooperative Bank alone is understood to have received more than 1,000 complaints. The number of complaints is likely to go up in the coming days. Verification of claims put up by the farmers too is an arduous process.

When the Central government issued guidelines after announcing the packages, loans were classified into direct agricultural loans, short-term production loans and investment loans. Borrowers were categorised as small, marginal and other farmers. This too has complicated the process.

There are complaints that the norms have been tightened to reduce the number of beneficiaries.

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