Karnataka   

Minister categorically rules out waiver of loans

Chitradurga: Social Welfare Minister D. Sudhakar has said the Government has no plans to announce a loan waiver scheme for those who have obtained loans under various schemes of the Ministry.

Addressing presspersons here on Wednesday, he said loan recovery was declining as people thought that the Government would waive loans.

He said of the loans totalling Rs. 222 crore disbursed by the department, only Rs. 126 crore had been recovered. “The Ministry will take steps to recover outstanding dues,” he said.

Mr. Sudhakar said Bangalore Urban district stood first with a recovery rate of 45 per cent this year, while Chitradurga stood last with a recovery rate of only 2 per cent. Kolar, Chikmagalur and Gulbarga had a 3 per cent recovery rate.

He said the Government had earmarked Rs. 100 crore for the welfare of the Backward Classes, while Rs. 20 crore had been earmarked for the development of the Savita Samaj and the Uppar Samaj.

A pilot project had been introduced in Chitradurga district where around 1,000 jobless youth from the Backward Classes would be identified for training in various disciplines so that they could be employed. The Minister said the Government would consider the demand to recruit more staff for recovery of loans. He said the Government had agreed to appoint NGOs to monitor loan recovery, and they would be given 5 per cent of the total amount they recovered.

Earlier, chairing the State-level review meeting of the Devaraj Urs Backward Classes Development Corporation at the zilla panchayat meeting hall, he expresses displeasure over the functioning of the officials of the department.

He was unhappy as the officials had not taken steps to recover loans, and that allegations had been levelled against for identifying false beneficiaries.

Warning them of punishment if such violations occurred in future, he said if the district still performed badly in terms of loan recovery, the increments of the officials concerned would be reduced or they would be demoted.

“Our primary aim is to identify genuine beneficiaries. But during my visits to various districts, I have found that false records are being maintained. Some officials have not even maintained records of the beneficiaries. This indicates that they are hand in glove with middlemen,” he said.

Managing Director of the corporation Sarfaraz Khan said it had decided to suspend the loan scheme meant for the purchase of bullock carts, on account of poor recovery rate.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Bangarappa gives a push to plan for fielding common candidates
BESCOM violated norms, says KRV
Arrested
Minister categorically rules out waiver of loans
Chitradurga district to get 17 ambulances
Common candidates
Veerappan’s wife held
Opposed
Bangarappa gives a push to plan on common candidates
Power ombudsman moots new cropping methods
JD(S) reiterates stand on tie-up
Veerappan’s wife, three others held
Naxalism will be put down: Acharya
Eco-friendly solutions
I PU timetable

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu