Bengaluru: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Tuesday vent his ire against the media for distorting facts about withdrawal of funds which were part of loan waiver money from farmers’ bank accounts.
“The media is portraying (the case) as though it is a mistake of the state government. Public sector banks have wrongly classified the accounts and withdrawn money. These banks have already clarified about the issue,” he told the media here today.
The Chief Minister said the media should pose questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the faux pas committed by these banks as they are controlled by the Union government.
Sharing details about Yadgir bank, Mr Kumaraswamy said the banks had not withdrawn money from only 200 accounts, as reported in the media. They had withdrawn money from over 800 farmers’ accounts. “I don’t know what the media gains by blaming the state government without any reason,'' he added.
Explaining about the loan waiver scheme, Mr Kumaraswamy said the government had released money to banks for waiver of farm loans of over 7.49 lakh farmers. It had cost the government over Rs 3021 crores. In the cooperative sector, money was released for over 11 lakh farmers, which cost the government over Rs 4,000 crores.
For coming year, the government has earmarked Rs 25,000 crore for farm loan waiver scheme, he added.
Mr Kumaraswamy has convened meeting of bankers on June 14 to discuss this issue, according to official sources.
