Thiruvananthapuram: No farmer will be denied other loans due to a PRS loan, Kerala's Minister for Agriculture P Prasad said on Friday. He was speaking to the media in light of the recent farmer suicides in the State.
A 71-year-old cancer survivor and farmer Naduvath Subramanian-- who had to move out of his 2.20 acres of land on the fringes of the forest in Kannur district because of frequent wild elephant raids -- ended his life on Wednesday, November 15. Four days before, on November 11, K G Prasad (55), a paddy farmer from Alappuzha's Thakazhy, died by suicide blaming the state government for not closing the loan he took against the paddy he sold to the Department of Food and Civil Supplies.
In an effort to appease the farming community, the minister said that the government has asked banks not to lower the CIBIL score of the farmer on account of the PRS loan. The Civil Supplies Cooperation and government will stand guarantee for this, he said.
PRS loans are given to farmers on the basis of the Paddy Receipt Sheet in lieu of procurement of paddy. The PRS loan is extended by banks after procurement of paddy and the state government repays it later. The PRS arrangement helps to pay the farmer immediately through the loan so that the payment is not delayed.
The Minister added that the government has engaged in discussions with three banks to understand the issues faced by Prasad, the farmer from Thakazhi.
"The banks have denied that Prasad approached them for loans. We are not taking this statement at face value. We believe the farmer's suicide note."
"The farmer had a decent CIBIL score of 812. His score was not lowered on account of PRS loan. We are looking at why the loans were denied despite a good score," the Minister said.
