Thiruvananthapuram: In a major relief to people finding it hard to repay loans, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said cooperative banks would be removed from the purview of the stringent Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest Act (SARFAESI Act). As per this, the cooperative banks would not have the power to attach property in case of loan default.
Steps have been taken to write off the agricultural debt of up to Rs 2 lakh, Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar said in the Kerala Assembly in reply to the opposition’s notice on an adjournment motion.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had sought to stall the assembly proceedings and discuss the farmers' suicides in the assembly. I C Balakrishnan, who moved the notice for adjournment motion, urged the government to write off agricultural debts.
The agriculture minister in his reply said that a moratorium was declared till December 31 and action would be taken against those banks that violate this.
The farm loan waiver debt limit that falls under the purview of the Agricultural Debt Relief Commission has been extended up to Rs 2 lakh. Commercial banks have also been included under the purview of the commission, he said.
Minister Kadakampally Surendran alleged that the UDF government had included the cooperative banks in the SARFAESI Act in the state.
However, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala slammed the government, saying that it had attached the assets of 2,961 people.
During the arguments, the CM said that the cooperative banks would be exempted from the SARFAESI Act. The opposition walked out of the assembly after being denied permission to move the adjournment motion.
