Assam CM announces 6 months moratorium on all loans in four flood-hit districts

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday announced that a six-month moratorium will be applicable for repaying all types of loans availed by flood-affected people in four districts of the state.

The flood situation in Assam continued to improve on Thursday, even though two more persons died, taking the toll to 80 this year, and more than 2.12 lakh people are still affected across four districts.

In a Facebook live, Sarma said he chaired a special meeting of the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC), attended by representatives from the RBI, NABARD, SBI and all other commercial banks.

"The meeting decided on a relief scheme for the customers who availed loans in Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat and Golaghat districts. The SLBC decided that a moratorium of six months will be offered to all flood-affected people in these districts," he added.

The banks will assess the condition of the customers availing loans, and only flood-affected people will receive this benefit, Sarma said, and appealed to all others to continue paying their EMIs if not hit by the deluge in these four districts.

He also said that the tenure of loans availed by all flood-affected people can be extended from one year up to seven years in all banks, depending on the type of debt.

"There are many small retail shop owners who have taken loans. Now, their shops are totally damaged, and nothing is left. The banks will give an additional amount of Rs 10,000 in their loan accounts without any new mortgage or collateral," the CM said.

Besides, the state government will pay Rs 1.5 lakh as a one-time assistance to each Namghar, a place of worship for Vaishnavite followers, in flood-ravaged Sivasagar and Charaideo districts to rebuild the institutions, he added.

Sarma said that flood-affected people in the four districts under consideration can repay their housing, education and vehicle loans with an extension of one year in addition to the six-month moratorium.

"For agriculture, crops and SHG loans, the borrowers can extend their repayment tenure by 1-2 years in addition to the moratorium. The same schedule will be applicable for loans taken for poultry, fishery and other animal husbandry purposes," he added.

Likewise, loans availed by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) can be extended by 3-7 years, as these are large amounts of debt, the CM said.

"The SLBC found that there are 3.18 lakh active bank accounts in the four districts, which have a cumulative outstanding loans of Rs 11,400 crore," he added.

Sarma said that he will also speak to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for giving similar relief to the flood-hit people who had availed loans from the non-banking financial companies (NBFC).

"From August 7, we will start assessing the damage to houses, animals, handlooms, agricultural fields, schools and all other places in the four districts so that a final relief amount can be decided. We have already announced an interim relief of Rs 15,000 to every household there," he added.

The CM further said that 45 roads totalling 100 km require urgent repair, while the administration has made 16 roads motorable so far.