Farm debt waiver hits wall as SLBC not supplying info

DIRECTIVE ISSUED Consortium asked to upload this data within a week

The SLBC was told that if banks cause any further delay, the state government will report the matter to the Union ministry of finance. A SENIOR GOVT OFICIAL There is a lot of data that we have to procure from 5,400 branches in the state. I think, the state govt is blaming the SLBC without reason. A BANKER IN THE SLBC

CHANDIGARH : The farm debt waiver scheme of the Punjab government has hit a wall as the State Level Banking Committee (SLBC), a consortium of 40 banks, is not keen on providing information on farmers in the marginal category, who are loanees of commercial banks.

These banks apprehend that once the waiver process begins, recovery will halt. A top executive from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) that funds the cooperative sector also said that the waiver did hamper recovery. “Banks cannot help much, because waiver is the state government’s decision,” he added.

Meanwhile, sensing banks’ reluctance, additional chief secretary, DP Reddy, has asked the SLBC to pull up the “laggard” banks who are not supplying information. After a meeting to review the progress of the debt waiver scheme, earlier this week, the SLBC was also asked to issue directions to banks to upload this data within a week; the uploading has been delayed by two months.

“The SLBC was told that if banks cause any further delay, the state government will report the matter to the Union ministry of finance,” said a senior officer on the condition of anonymity.

“The delay is hampering our work in covering small farmers and waiving the debt that farmers in this category owe to cooperative banks,” the officer added.

He went on to add that the waiver of cooperative bank loans of marginal farmers had almost been completed.

“Now, as the next step we are covering marginal farmers who owe commercial banks and small farmers of both the cooperative banks and the commercial banks,” he concluded.

‘TAKES TIME TO COLLATE DATA’

“We are providing the information, but it takes time. There is a lot of data that we have to procure from 5,400 branches in the state. I think, the state government is blaming the SLBC without reason. It should also have the funds to take forward its waiver,” a banker in the SLBC, told HT on the condition of anonymity.

Waiving the entire debt on the state’s farmers was a pre-poll promise of Captain Amarinder Singh.

Finally, after assuming power, the chief minister announced in the Vidhan Sabha, that the government will waive up to ₹2 lakh of marginal and small farmers.

Under the policy, the government proposes to cover nearly 10 lakh farmers with a total debt waiver between ₹9,500 and ₹10,000 crore.

So far, the government has waived ₹1,600 crore of at least 3 lakh farmers in the marginal category, who owed cooperative banks.