Corporation Bank officials on Wednesday carried out dharnas to recover dues from wilful defaulters, that is, those who fail to repay bank loans despite having sufficient resources.

Members of the bank’s recovery team, who wore yellow jackets and held placards, staged day-long dharnas in front of the business premises and residences of wilful defaulters.

Asked what made the bank to think of this strategy, SR Bansal, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank, told BusinessLine that the dharna strategy is adopted for those who are wilful defaulters. “They may be having some means, but they do not pay. It is a name-and-shame kind of policy,” he said.

When the recovery team members stand in front a residence or business premises from morning to evening holding placards, then the people in the vicinity will come to know that the person concerned is a wilful defaulter, he said.

Multiplier effect

With such dharnas , the signal goes among wilful defaulters that tomorrow it may be their term. This sort of demonstrative action will have a multiplier effect, he said. V Thangaraju, General Manager of the bank, said that the bank has asked all the 34 zonal heads to select wilful defaulters and sit on dharna . Asked about the share of such wilful defaulters, he said it may be 30-40 per of total NPAs (non-performing assets).

To a query on the outcome of the Wednesday’s dharna , he said the result is not immediately known. However, in one or two cases the bank received repayment. In another, the borrower has promised to repay ₹3.5 crore in two days.

Thangaraju clarified that the dharna strategy is only for big borrowers who are wilful defaulters. “We are not going for all borrowers. Not against farmers. This is not applicable to farmers,” he added.

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