For the first time in India, probably, farmers have approached the banks demanding long term loans by hypothecating their lands as security. They were even showing the guidelines issued by Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Led by Telangana Rytu Rakshana Samithi (TRRS), about 150 farmers gathered at Narsapur panchayat office on Wednesday and discussed about the problems being faced by them due to non-issuance of long term loans by banks.
Presenting the copies of RBI guidelines purportedly issued for 2016, the farmers have presented them to the bank officials. The copies presented by the farmers include the following points. “Agriculture and allied activities (direct and indirect finance): Direct finance to agriculture shall include short, medium and long term loans given for agriculture and allied activities directly to individual farmers.”
“Loans to distressed farmers indebted to non-institutional lenders.”
Stating that they were being forced to go for private lenders to fetch loans as banks are not coming forward to extend a helping hand, many farmers said that they were hypothecating their pattadar pass books to get loans from money lenders and sometimes pawn gold ornaments.Many farmers said that they have taken loans from private lenders at an interest ranging between Rs. 2 and Rs 5. “Many farmers can come out of the debt trap once and for all if the banks come forward to extend long term loans by hypothecating their lands. Banks are not coming forward despite guidelines issued by RBI. Some of the bank officials do not know that these guidelines were issued. This programme was taken up for the first time in,” said TRRS president Pakala Srihari Rao.
Furnishing their details like name, land owned, private lending title book number and pass book number and the amount spent on bore-wells, as many as 150 farmers submitted their applications – 126 to SBI and 24 at SBH- with a request to sanction long term loans. The farmers informed that they would organise protests after one week if there was no positive response from bankers.
