Kota Srinivas Poojary, Minister for Ports and Fisheries, and Muzrai, said on Thursday that nationalised and regional banks should not force fishermen to repay the loans that were waived by the State government.
He was speaking at a meeting of officers and office-bearers of fishermen associations at the Zilla Panchayat Hall, here.
Mr. Poojary said that the State government had already announced the waiver of loans taken by fishermen at 0% interest, 2% interest and 3% interest upto ₹50,000, for 2017-18 and 2018-19.
This being the case, the banks should not insist on interest or loan repayment.
There were complaints from the fishermen that the banks were asking them for repayment of loans, which had been waived by the government, he said.
Rudresh, District Lead Bank Manager, said that even he had received complaints on this matter. He had directed the banks not to put pressure on the fishermen in this regard.
If the beneficiaries under the loan waiver had repaid the loans since April 2019, then this amount would go to their bank accounts, he said.
