Axis Bank loans: Govt. assurance to farmers

November 07, 2018 05:48 pm | Updated 05:48 pm IST - Belagavi

Deputy Commissioner S.B. Bommanahalli and Superintendent of Police Sudhir Kumar Reddy at a meeting with Axis Bank officers and farmers in Belagavi on Wednesday

Deputy Commissioner S.B. Bommanahalli and Superintendent of Police Sudhir Kumar Reddy at a meeting with Axis Bank officers and farmers in Belagavi on Wednesday

The State government has extended all assistance to farmers who had received arrest warrants from Axis Bank and they need not worry, Deputy Commissioner S.B. Bommanahalli said in Belagavi on Wednesday.

“Following instructions from the State government, the district administration will take steps to release all farmers from the debts for loans they had taken from Axis Bank. First, we will initiate loan waiver proceedings for all those who are eligible. Around 25 per cent of the 180 farmers who have outstanding loans are eligible for it. The others will be assisted through the one-time settlement scheme that will be arranged at the taluk levels,’’ he told presspersons. He was speaking after holding a meeting of stakeholders including the affected farmers, Axis Bank officials, Cooperative and Agriculture department officers and lead bank officers.

According to him, the team of bank officials, headed by S. Dayanand, had agreed to the DC’s suggestion to withdraw cases against farmers. “They said they would take a legal opinion and decide on the future course of action.’’ He felt the response from the bank officials was positive.

At the meeting, the DC told farmers not to worry and that the government would provide them all kinds of assistance. The farmers complained that the bank was not willing to extend the time given to them to repay the money. They also said they were unhappy with the bank for filing cases in Kolkata and not in Belagavi or Bengaluru. “It will be difficult for us to go to Kolkata and find a lawyer to fight our cases,’’ they said.

An officer who attended the meeting said that the DC had taken objection to the procedure adopted by the bank in sanctioning loans, including taking blank cheques from the farmers. Bank officials maintained that the loans were sanctioned in 2009 and the 180 farmers had remained defaulters for nine years. Some farmers had not even paid one instalment, the bank officials said. They maintained that the warrants were bailable and they had been issued only after the farmers had refused to responds to multiple summons. Though the loans are nine years old, the cases were filed only a few months ago, the officers said.

SP Sudhir Kumar Reddy asked bank officials to follow due process while sanctioning loans and to ensure due diligence while soliciting customers.

The issue had hit the headlines after Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had convened a meeting in Bengaluru and warned bank officials not to proceed further with the cases.

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