The Hindu Business Line : Bankers seek more time to finalise debt waiver scheme

CHANDIGARH: Bankers in Punjab and Haryana have sought more time to prepare the list of farmers to be covered under the government's debt waiver scheme, so that they can comply with a fresh advice issued by the Union Finance Ministry. Without specifying t he time frame, bankers requested the Ministry to give them "some more time'' in respect of giving confirmations to State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) for the finalisation of the list of beneficiaries under the Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief S cheme, 2008, an official of SLBC said.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram had directed public sector banks to furnish the list of beneficiaries by June 25. In a letter dated June 24, the Ministry had issued two new clarifications regarding the "write off'' accounts and "poultry and dairy advance s'' that are to be kept in mind while finalising the list of beneficiaries. The ministry clarified, "if the entire loan is taken for putting up fencing or sheds only under poultry and dairy advances, then it would not be covered. However, if the part of the loan is used for sheds, fences then the entire composite loan amount would be reckoned for calculating eligible amount.''

Another clarification issued by the ministry asked bankers to cover "Written Off'' accounts in the scheme. A few days ago, the ministry had issued 34 new clarifications to all the banks to incorporate them in the scheme with immediate affect. Meanwhil e, bankers have so far calculated Rs 1,716.83 crore and Rs 867.11 crore as debt waiver and relief amount for Haryana and Punjab farmers under the scheme. It involves over five lakh accounts of Haryana and 2.24 lakh accounts of Punjab. - PTI

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