Citing unprecedented floods in Kerala, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has urged RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das to extend the moratorium on repayment of farm loans till December 31. He said the Kerala government and the Opposition had made this demand earlier.
The Wayanad MP who visited his constituency which was ravaged by rain and landslides, said in a letter to Das that the State has witnessed the worst floods in over a century. The devastating impact of the deluge is further compounded by the inability of farmers to repay agriculture loans on account of widespread crop loss, and extensive damage to other productive assets.
“External factors such as the sharp fall in global prices of cash crops has also adversely affected the ability of farmers to bounce back,” he said.
“Kerala has witnessed a tragic spate of farmer suicides in the aftermath of banks initiating recovery proceedings against helpless farmers under the SARFAESI Act,” he said in the letter.
He said despite the demand from the State government and the Opposition, the State’s committee of bankers refused to extend the moratorium to December 31. “I request the RBI to take measures to extend the moratorium on repayment to December 31, 2019,” he said.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.