Farmer loan : RBI lays guidelines

Statesman News Service

MALDA, June 19: Following the instruction of the West Bengal PCC chief, Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, the district Congress leaders yesterday submitted a deputation to the lead bank manager in Malda for immediate publication of waiver list of farmers.The object is to focus on the Centre's recent decision of agriculture loan before parliamentary election. Though the district Congress leaders thought that almost all marginal and small farmers would be free from agriculture loan but many farmers would have to repay loan and its interests following the latest guideline of Reserve Bank of India after Centre's announcement. Based on the recent guidelines of the RBI, the Malda lead bank manager (regional manager UBI) Mr Tapan Kumar Das told the Congress leaders that bank would consider only the farmers who took loan between 31 March, 1997 and 31 March, 2007. The farmers who took loan before 31 March, 1997, would not be considered waiving agriculture loan, he added.The RBI has categorically formulated the system to waive agricultural loan such as direct loan (crop credit), investment credit for mechanical development and allied agriculture loan. The bank authorities would pass loans to farmers having up to 5 acres crop land. Farmers who have more than 5 acres land will be getting only relief. The RBI has instructed to give ‘relief’ which is one-fourth of its total loan amount to those who will make the rest three-fourth of its total payments. According to bank officials, the farmers in allied agriculture sector such as poultry, fishery and others will be considered as small and marginal who took loan up to Rs 50,000 and their loan will be coming under waiver scheme.The regional manager of UBI in Malda has asked 40 branch managers in this region to attend a meeting to be held tomorrow just to convey some latest guidelines of the RBI before finalisation of waiver list of farmers. The Malda lead bank manager has appointed 40 special officers in all branches of nationalised banks in this region to finalise list of farmers and to inform other farmers how to apply for the loan. Chartered accountants residing in the area have been appointed specially to audit the accounts of agricultural loan in all branches to finalisation of list of farmers after waiving their loan. “We expected that we would be able to publish final list of farmers last week of June with the approval of higher authorities”, Mr Tapan Kumar Das said. According to bank records, there are huge bad debts in agriculture sector since 1982, 1988 to 1996. The bank officials are trying hard to recover such loan at their level best. ###