Farmers fume over bad behaviour by bank staff

Anger is building up among farmers against the ham-handed manner in which District Cooperative Central Bank (DCCB) officials are forcibly collecting loan dues from farmers.

DCCB officials seized even household items like sacks full of rice and other provisions. The plea from farmers to give them more time to pay their installments keeping in view the massive damage to the chilli and cotton crops in unseasonal rains and pest attacks were not heeded.

Farmers said the official behaved in the same manner as private financiers would, who had often indulged in muscleflexing or unleashed thugs on farmers to recover loan dues.

The incidents at Chandruthanda and Pindiprolu in Tirumalayapalem mandal were widely condemned. The officials attached properties of farmers whose loan installments were pending. Rythu Sangham district president Rambabu said the farmers lost their crops and were in deep distress. “Instead of giving time to them to repay the loan, the DCCB officials acted like goons,” he said.

In Surdepalli village in Nelakondapalli mandal, the bank officials locked the house of a farmer. The family spent night out in the cold winter.

Prasada Rao, a farmer from Nelakondapalli, said, “The dues of the farmers are not high; and below `10,000. The DCCB are reminiscent of the ‘Kabuliwala’, who acted in a similar manner five decades ago. We have not seen such rash behavior from the DCCB in the past.” Large numbers of farmers were also affected by the Covid19 virus. Their earnings have come down due to crop losses in last two years.