Chandigarh November 26:
Five years after they last acted against farmers, cooperative banks in Punjab have started the process of getting farmers arrested for defaulting on loans.
The process has been initiated in the cotton belt of Ferozepur - Faridkot covering six districts in south-west Punjab with the arrest of 52 farmers. While 52 farmers have been sent to jail in the past one week or so, 77 more farmers were arrested but were let off after they repaid their loans. Arrest warrants have been issued against 1,100 farmers even as warrants are in the process of being issued to 1,200 others.
The Punjab State Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank (PADB) has been forced to take this step with loan recoveries in Bathinda, Mansa, Muktsar, Faridkot, Moga and Ferozepur falling to an all-time low level. Out of the 24 PADB banks in these districts, only four remain in the “A” category. Others have been degraded to the “C” category by NABARD which allows them restricted loaning and five have been downgraded to the “D” category under which they are denied money by the central organisation.
PADB General Manager Gurmeet Singh Brar, who also looks after Faridkot division, said there were more than 36,000 defaulters in the cotton belt. He said recoveries in this belt were very poor with Mansa recording the least recovery of 2.7 per cent this year. Last year it was 3.4 per cent. Brar said in contrast to this the recoveries in Patiala division this year were 18.5 per cent and in Jalandhar division 18 per cent.
Brar claimed the PADB was forced to initiate arrest proceedings as more than 50 per cent of the loanees had paying capacity but were wilful defaulters. Though Brar did not say so much, PADB field officers complain that a variety of reasons, including a strong presence of kisan unions in the Malwa region as well as the hope of a loan waiver, are responsible for the defaults. Farmers in the cotton belt have a loan of Rs 168 crore pending against them.
The move by the PADB has had a partial effect with some defaulters coming forward to pay their dues. Today, four of the five farmers arrested in Faridkot paid up on the spot. While the cooperative bank is at present mainly acting against farmers who have taken loans for non-farm activities, they are also urging farmers who have taken loans for agriculture and allied activities to pay up or face action.
Most of the loanees are small farmers as they find it difficult to get loans from commercial banks. Meanwhile, the arrests have been condemned by the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta). Its Bathinda unit district president, Shingara Singh Mann, said farmers were not able to return loans due to skewed government policies.
Five years after they last acted against farmers, cooperative banks in Punjab have started the process of getting farmers arrested for defaulting on loans.
The process has been initiated in the cotton belt of Ferozepur - Faridkot covering six districts in south-west Punjab with the arrest of 52 farmers. While 52 farmers have been sent to jail in the past one week or so, 77 more farmers were arrested but were let off after they repaid their loans. Arrest warrants have been issued against 1,100 farmers even as warrants are in the process of being issued to 1,200 others.
The Punjab State Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank (PADB) has been forced to take this step with loan recoveries in Bathinda, Mansa, Muktsar, Faridkot, Moga and Ferozepur falling to an all-time low level. Out of the 24 PADB banks in these districts, only four remain in the “A” category. Others have been degraded to the “C” category by NABARD which allows them restricted loaning and five have been downgraded to the “D” category under which they are denied money by the central organisation.
PADB General Manager Gurmeet Singh Brar, who also looks after Faridkot division, said there were more than 36,000 defaulters in the cotton belt. He said recoveries in this belt were very poor with Mansa recording the least recovery of 2.7 per cent this year. Last year it was 3.4 per cent. Brar said in contrast to this the recoveries in Patiala division this year were 18.5 per cent and in Jalandhar division 18 per cent.
Brar claimed the PADB was forced to initiate arrest proceedings as more than 50 per cent of the loanees had paying capacity but were wilful defaulters. Though Brar did not say so much, PADB field officers complain that a variety of reasons, including a strong presence of kisan unions in the Malwa region as well as the hope of a loan waiver, are responsible for the defaults. Farmers in the cotton belt have a loan of Rs 168 crore pending against them.
The move by the PADB has had a partial effect with some defaulters coming forward to pay their dues. Today, four of the five farmers arrested in Faridkot paid up on the spot. While the cooperative bank is at present mainly acting against farmers who have taken loans for non-farm activities, they are also urging farmers who have taken loans for agriculture and allied activities to pay up or face action.
Most of the loanees are small farmers as they find it difficult to get loans from commercial banks. Meanwhile, the arrests have been condemned by the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta). Its Bathinda unit district president, Shingara Singh Mann, said farmers were not able to return loans due to skewed government policies.
