Kerala CM urges banks to write off loans of landslide victims, survivors of Wayanad

The Kerala government on Monday expressed strong displeasure over banks deducting monthly installments of loans from the accounts of landslide victims and survivors in Wayanad and demanded that these loans be written off completelyWaiving loans would not impose any unbearable burden upon the banks and so it should be written off completely Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said hereWhile addressing a meeting of the State Level Bankers Committee SLBC here the CM said relaxation in interest amounts or extension of time for remitting monthly installments would not at all be a solution in the landslidehit regionsMany of those who had taken the loans are deceased and their land has become unusable due to the disaster he pointed outThe only thing we can do is write off the entire loans taken by people in these affected areas Vijayan saidHe expressed the governments strong displeasure over banks continuing to deduct monthly installments from the accounts of survivors and urged the SLBC State Level Bankers Committee to take a favourable decision in this matterRecalling the horrors and impact of the July 30 tragedy the CM said a large number of landslide victims or survivors had been engaged in farming activities in Wayanad but the disaster has even altered the very geography of the agricultural lands thereCiting reports he said the affected places have become unusable and no cultivation or settlement is possible in these areasMost of the farmers in the areas have taken out loans Those who took a loan to build a house had lost the house itself the CM said adding that they were not in a position now to repay the instalmentsThe CM also pointed out that the banks after writing off loans usually expect the government to pay the waived amountMy suggestion is that you banks should not take such a stand on this issue he said urging the banks to bear the amount on their ownVijayans reaction came amidst intense protests against the Kerala Gramin bank which has allegedly deducted monthly installments from the accounts of some landslide survivors in WayanadThe amount was reportedly deducted from the immediate relief sanctioned to them by the governmentVarious political parties staged protests in front of the branch of the bank in Kalpetta on MondayThe government provided the relief amount to the survivors to meet their immediate needs as they had lost everything The amount was given through various banks he saidCriticising the Gramin Bank over deduction of monthly installments from the survivors he said I am not saying anything more Nothing should be done mechanically at this juncture Meanwhile the protesters told reporters that they were ending the agitations as the bank authorities have given in writing that they would not deduct any more EMIMajor landslides hit the Mundakkai and Chooralamala regions of Wayanad on July 30 almost decimating both areas and killing over 200 people and injuring manyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever