Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, July 12

The farmers who have stopped repaying loans on an assurance by the Congress government are in trouble. Nationalised banks have started recovering loans from the social security pension credited into their accounts.

Recently, a Gidderbaha farmer was denied his old-age pension by the State Bank of India, as he had failed to clear his crop loan. Exercising its first right over any remittance received in the defaulting farmers’ account to set right the bank loan, the bank refused to release his pension.

Bohar Singh, alias Bholla Singh, of Gurusar village in Gidderbaha went to the bank branch in the village to enquire about the status of his pension. The bank official told him to first pay the interest on loan, which was overlapping his credit limit due for May 31.

Bholla Singh said, “I took agricultural loan of Rs 1.05 lakh on my two-acre land. The bank official told me to pay Rs 3,500 interest due on it to get my pension of three months of Rs 1,500.”

While a majority of people got their pension, he did not. Branch Assistant Manager Prithvi Raj said, “The farmer has taken agricultural loan of Rs 1.05 lakh from our bank, but the amount outstanding towards him has reached Rs 1,08,500, including the interest. Now, the computerised system will not allow any withdrawal until he pays the interest amount of Rs 3,500, which was due to be paid before May 31, and takes back the credit limit to principal amount of Rs 1.05 lakh.”

He added, “The pension has not yet come into his account, but even if it comes we will not be able to disburse it. He will have to first clear the dues of Rs 3,500. In this situation, he can open another account to get the benefit of pension.”

Senior officials in the SBI local head office at Chandigarh, when contacted, said there was no notification yet on the farm relief promised by the state government.

“Since loans are going bad, we are wishing our rights to set the loan right by stopping any remittances coming into the farmers’ accounts,” they said.

It is learnt that the notification on debt relief will come only in two months. A final meeting of the expert committee headed by T Haque is scheduled for later this month.

The worry, however, is that not only the farmers will get any remittance since they are now classified as defaulters, but the banks will also not extend them crop loans till old loans are settled.