Thiruvananthapuram: In a major relief to the farmers, State Level Bankers’ Committee on Tuesday decided to urge Reserve Bank of India to extend the moratorium on repayment of farm loans till December 31, 2019.
The decision taken unanimously at the SLBC meeting will be conveyed to RBI which has the powers to reschedule loans. The decision to extend the moratorium period till December 31 is expected to benefit over 1.25 lakh farmers in the state.
The SLBC meeting took the decision taking into consideration government’s earlier recommendation to extend the moratorium from the existing July 31 to December 31.
Chief Minister Pinrayi Vijayan sought the cooperation of banks for the successful implementation of the government schemes. The problems being faced by the farmers were grave and they need to be addressed on priority.
“Banks need to adopt a realistic approach towards problems of farmers and provide assistance. Taking a technical and mechanical view of the matter would only aggravate the situation further,” he said.
Mr Pinarayi reminded the banking sector that it had the responsibility to provide a helping hand to the economically weaker sections of society.
