Letters to the editor dated December 22, 2021

The recent probe by the income-tax department on four ARCs revealed that they have been adopting unfair practices in selling the assets sold to them by banks, thereby defeating the very purpose for which ARCs were set up. In general, banks pay less attention on the recovery of assets transferred to ARCs.

The IT department also found there exists a nexus between the defaulted borrowers and ARCs. In fact, in most of the cases the initial payment of 15 per cent to the banks by the ARCs was met by the borrowers themselves. This has defeated the aim of keeping borrowers away from the entire transaction. Also, the amount of NPAs acquired by the ARCs were far less than the value of the collateral securities covering the NPAs.

The ARCs haven’t been transparent in their transactions, keeping banks in the dark about the value of assets that were disposed of. In the process, banks are denied their actual share of the profits.

A committee should be formed at the time of disposal of assets so that the profits are hand over to the banks, which are already burdened by losses.

Bhimavaram, AP

Given the Indian penchant for jugaad , it should not be surprising that the ARC-borrower nexus has been denying banks and the government of their rightful dues. Hopefully, the government will treat this as a matter of corruption and take adequate and timely action against those involved.

The modus operandi of these operators has been detrimental to the interests of the banks. While the idea of an ARC is good, the banks will now be wary of transferring their bad loans to them. Governments have this habit of throwing away the baby with the bathwater, and therefore in this case it’s better to keep a close watch on the antics of the ARCs instead of closing them.

Mumbai

Apropos ‘Are jobs really being created?’ (December 22), relying on the subscriber base of EPF could be one of the sources to measure the growth in employment. At this juncture, the role and efficacy of employment exchanges functioning under the Ministry of Labour, which runs little over 900 such exchanges in the country, need to be reviewed systematically.

It is a custom in many tehsils and towns to get registered under employment exchange for a government job as soon as one has passed out of high school or college. But the fact of getting employed elsewhere is not updated by many, resulting in a rise in the number of people waiting for jobs and thus the data on unemployment that these exchanges provide will not have much relevance.

Chennai

This refers to ‘Time farmers harvested the power of tech’ (December 22). Large farmers have the wherewithal to adopt technology, thereby making farming more viable and competitive.

The repealed farm laws would have benefited not only agritech start-ups but the whole farm sector. If these start-ups can assist in the last leg of the supply chain, it would prove extremely beneficial to small farmers who need to be empowered at any cost. Dehat and Ninjakart are doing their job well and we need more of such start-ups across the country because agriculture is the backbone of our economy.

Noida

The Health Ministry has said that Omicron is three times more transmissible than the Delta variant. If it is, then we should not forget the losses caused by the second Covid wave. At the ground level, very few people are following Covid safety norms. Political parties should stop holding rallies, inaugural functions, etc., as these involve mass gatherings.

The rising number of Covid cases in the US, UK, and other countries should prompt India to start preparing, by arranging for adequate hospital equipment and giving proper training to local bodies to handle the situation.

Pune

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