Punjab Government has made it clear that the benefit of non-initiation of kurki proceedings would not be applicable to big, influential, and “willful” defaulters, majority of which includes Akali leaders, their relatives or supporters.
Amidst the allegations of harassing the already beleaguered farmers by initiating kurki (selling to recover loans) of their land, the state Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had clarified that that the government would not initiate kurki proceedings against the small and marginal farmers but against those influential, rich and willful defaulters who were not repaying bank’s loans despite having the capability to do so.
In all, nearly 200 defaulters owe allegiance to the Akali Dal which includes party’s bigwings like former minister Sucha Singh langah, a close relative of former Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon and two brothers of former Minister Sharanjit Dhillon.
Other than that, the list of Patiala district’s defaulter list include SAD’s circle president Randhir Singh, former MP Satwinder Kaur, Market Committee chairman Nirmal Singh Malakpur, Akali candidate from Barnala Rajinder Kaur’s husband Charanjit Singh and son Gurbinderjit Singh, SAD’s former MlA from lehragaga Amar Singh’s son Gurdev Singh, besides others.
In the list of Jalandhar division, besides the name of former Minister Sucha Singh langah, 24 defaulters belonged to the SAD. In Ferozepur division, Jalalabad market committee’s former chairman Jaswinder Singh, and block samiti’s former chairman Balkaran Singh’s family owe Rs 126.70 lakh to the Bank.
Mincing no words, Randhawa said that SAD president Sukhbir Badal is blowing the issue out of proportion as the list of defaulters also include the names of many Akalis, including SAD president’s close aide.
“The Congress Government is committed to watch the interests of marginal and small farmers but legal action, as per law, will definitely be taken against the willful, big and influential farmers who do not repay their loans in spite of having the capacity to repay,” Randhawa made it clear.
“Only the land of the rich and influential farmers, who have taken heavy debt from the Bank, will be sold to recover loan dues,” said Randhawa while targeting SAD president for making a noise over a “non-issue”.
Randhawa clarified that there was no move or intention on the part of the Punjab State Agriculture Cooperative Bank (PADB) to sell the land of the farmers to recover its dues.
He said that initiating legal action against the defaulters is a routine banking practice across all the banks and PADB has also been following it and sending notices to defaulters for recovery does not mean that bank eventually intends to sell their land.
“The Bank primarily effects recovery by way of persuasion and never harasses a farmer in distress. But there are many willful defaulters who, in spite of various efforts and ample time being given to them, have not bothered to repay their loan installments even when they have the capacity to repay,” he said.
It is evident from the fact that the PADB had an overdue amount of Rs 1,363.87 crore towards 71,432 farmers as on February 1, 2018, and out of these, the Bank has affected recovery of Rs 194.74 crore from 16,469 farmers till June 30, 2018, and has not sold the land of even a single farmer.
He pointed, “Even during the government of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), who claims to be the champion of the farmers’ cause and are shedding crocodile tears just for political mileage, legal notices to sell land and arbitration proceedings were initiated against defaulters,” said Randhawa.
Randhawa said that as on January 31, 2016, before the Congress Government took over, sale action was already underway against 30,794 defaulter farmers and arbitration proceedings to secure arrest warrants of defaulters were initiated against 41,745 defaulter farmers of all the 89 PADBs in the state.
“Out of 23 defaulter farmers whose land was auctioned and purchased by the PADBs themselves and still stands in the name of PADBs, in 20 cases, it was auctioned during the Akali regimes. land of not a single farmer has been sold by this bank since March 2017,” he said.