Thiruvananthapuram: Farmers in Kerala facing loan recovery notices can breathe easy till the year-end. The State Level Banker's Committee (SLBC) that met here today has decided to extend the moratorium on repayment till December 31. The apex bankers' panel will inform the Reserve Bank of its decision.
SLBC had already received the nod of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in this regard. The extension is expected to benefit around 1.25 lakh individuals in the state which has of late witnessed suicide by farmers.
The State Level Banker's Committee can take the decision on the extension of the moratorium for repayment of restructured farm loans till December 31, the RBI has said.
The central bank was replying to the SLBC letter requesting the extension of the moratorium from July 31 to December 31.
The SLBC meeting was held today in the presence of the Kerala Chief Minister and Agriculture Minister, will prove crucial in determining the fate of the farmers. The banks should cooperate if the government policies are to be implemented successfully, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday. The issues confronted by the farmers is serious. They need to be addressed at earliest, the CM added.
There's a widespread allegation that many deserving parties fail to receive the loans, the Chief Secretary informed the gathering. The committee agreed to the speedy redreassal of loan related applications and related issues. The committee also pointed out that linking farmer suicides to banks was an unfortunate phenomenon.
The state government had declared a moratorium on the farm loans till July 31, 2019 and the RBI had given its nod for the same.
However, following the rise in farmer suicides in Wayanad and Idukki districts, the government announced the extension of the moratorium till December 31. The SLBC had sent a request to the RBI on the matter. The loans repayment process will resume only after December in this case.
The extension of moratorium will not be applicable to those who haven't submitted an application for rescheduling of repayment. The last date for submission of the application was December 31, 2018.
Misleading ad?
An advertisement from the SLBC that appeared in leading dailies in Kerala on Sunday had earlier upset the government as it stated that recovery procedures on farmers loans will go ahead on defaulters.
Speaking to the media, State Finance Minister Thomas Issac had said the issue will be taken up strongly at the upcoming SLBC meeting.
"They have written off Rs 5 lakh crore of outstanding amount of the corporates, but have come out with rules against the farmers and are threatening with recovery procedures. It's not right to say that only paddy cultivation is classified under agricultural loans. If agricultural land means only paddy fields, then in Kerala it's just 15 per cent. We will raise this issue at the SLBC meeting very strongly," said Issac.
In 2019 alone, about two dozen farmers committed suicide after the banks strictly went ahead with recovery procedures even after the government had announced that due to the piquant situations faced by the state in terms of the worst ever floods last year, all loans taken by the farmers would get a moratorium till December 31 2019.
After one such suicide, Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi had urged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to provide assistance to the family of a farmer who committed suicide allegedly due to non-repayment of loans, and also conduct an inquiry into the matter.
At the SLBC Sub Committee on Natural Calamity (2018), one of the decisions taken was with regard to providing moratorium on agricultural loans and loans to those borrowers whose income is largely from agriculture and allied activities. The committee clarified that banks may permit moratorium to those loans pertaining to flood affected villages notified by the government, subject to the permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
However, in the advertisement the SLBC said the RBI guidelines have to be followed by all banks and the moratorium ends on July 31.
(With inputs from IANS.)