Loan default: Bank attaches farmer’s pension

Muktsar : The farmers who have stopped repaying loans on an assurance by the Congress government are in trouble. Nationalised banks have started recovering loans from the social security pension credited into their accounts.
Recently, a Gidderbaha farmer was denied his old-age pension by the State Bank of India, as he had failed to clear his crop loan. Exercising its first right over any remittance received in the defaulting farmers’ account to set right the bank loan, the bank refused to release his pension.
Bohar Singh, alias Bholla Singh, of Gurusar village in Gidderbaha went to the bank branch in the village to enquire about the status of his pension. The bank official told him to first pay the interest on loan, which was overlapping his credit limit due for May 31.
Bholla Singh said, “I took agricultural loan of Rs 1.05 lakh on my two-acre land. The bank official told me to pay Rs 3,500 interest due on it to get my pension of three months of Rs 1,500.”
While a majority of people got their pension, he did not. Branch Assistant Manager Prithvi Raj said, “The farmer has taken agricultural loan of Rs 1.05 lakh from our bank, but the amount outstanding towards him has reached Rs 1,08,500, including the interest. Now, the computerised system will not allow any withdrawal until he pays the interest amount of Rs 3,500, which was due to be paid before May 31, and takes back the credit limit to principal amount of Rs 1.05 lakh.”