THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The commercial banks in Kerala are going ahead with recovery procedures on farm loans disregarding the state’s request for an extension of the moratorium on repayments that ended on March 31.
The State Level Bankers’ Committee released an advertisement in newspapers on Sunday warning defaulters. It says member banks initiating attachment procedures have legal sanctity.
It was on August 28 the SLBC decided on moratorium when there was a spurt in farmer deaths. But the ad says since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given no extension, the SLBC can’t do anything.
The state government had requested for a cessation of recovery procedures for another year. But the RBI did not oblige.
Finance minister T.M. Thomas Isaac criticised the SLBC’s apathy to farmers and said the banks had no qualms while writing off some Rs 5 lakh crore outstandings of corporates.
“A decision was taken at the previous SLBC meeting on this. Unfor-tunately, the farmers have now got a raw deal,” he said.
“Farmers will have to stay vigilant as those banks which are members of the SLBC will go ahead with attaching their property if there is default in repayments."
The SLBC is meeting here on Tuesday. Agriculture minister V.S. Sunil Kumar claimed that the SLBC had taken "a conclusive decision" at the last meeting on the moratorium.
"The government will have to take up the issue seriously on what can be done further to protect the interests of farmers," he said.
"Banks have every right to extend the moratorium (on its own, despite the SLBC decision)."
