Jewel loan waiver only for 1 in a family, clarifies govt

At a time when irregularities in obtaining gold loan in cooperative societies in the past have surfaced, Registrar of Cooperative Societies A Shanmugasundaram, sent a circular to officials of the Cooperative Department clarifying that only one person from a family is eligible to avail of jewel waiver up to 5 sovereigns.

“There is no restriction on family members obtaining jewel loans from cooperative banks but the government has clarified that only one person in a family who has obtained jewel loan by pledging under 5 sovereigns of gold jewels will be eligible for waiver. The circular clearly states legal action can be initiated against those who have not repaid dues for their pledged jewels,” said an official in the Cooperative Department. The jewel loan waiver was first announced by the AIADMK, stating people who have obtained jewel loan in cooperative societies under six sovereigns, as on January 31, this year, would be waived. DMK, meanwhile, had assured that after coming to power it would waive jewel loans under 5 sovereigns.

After regime change, the DMK found many irregularities and Minister for Cooperation Dindigul I Periyasamy, said that jewel loan will be waived after irregularities were resolved. Sources in the Department said that in the first three months of investigation, it was found around 1,000 people in 11 cooperative societies illegally obtained jewel loans. Action would be initiated against such individuals, a source added.

The CPM, meanwhile, sought CBCID investigations into the irregularities in the gold loan issued by the cooperative banks.