Loan waiver money debited from 14,000 farmers’ accounts: Where did the money go?
The government denied the reports and said that they were merely lies and speculations being spread by the opposition parties. Kumaraswamy said that the blunder was caused by nationalised banks that are under the Central government’s control. He said in a tweet that the discrepancy came to light after the state government conducted an audit. He also said that the audit reportedly helped in saving crores of rupees.
FollowBengaluru: A farmer from Sagar village in Yadgir district, Karnataka, had his bank account credited with Rs 43,553 in April after the Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy’s pre-poll farm loan waiver promise. But Shivappa, the farmer, realised that the amount was deducted from his account without any clarification on June 3 soon after the Lok Sabha election results.
Shivappa was not alone. The banks retrieved the money they had deposited in the accounts of 13,988 farmers towards the loan waiver. The farmers were all jolted. They are now up in arms as they feel that the government credited the money before Lok Sabha election to garner votes and since they got defeated in it, they have withdrawn the money.
The government denied the reports and said that they were merely lies and speculations being spread by the opposition parties. Kumaraswamy said that the blunder was caused by nationalised banks that are under the Central government’s control. He said in a tweet that the discrepancy came to light after the state government conducted an audit. He also said that the audit reportedly helped in saving crores of rupees.
Reports said that he has called the representatives of nationalised banks for a meeting on June 14.
Commissioner of Survey, Settlement and Land Records, Munish Moudgil, reportedly said that the discrepancies occurred only in nationalised banks where 12 lakh farmers had applied for the loan waiver scheme.
Moudgil went on to say that as per the data provided by the banks, the government released Rs 3,930 crore to 7.5 lakh eligible farmers after examining their application.
An audit conducted by a state government agency brought to light that the banks had deposited money in 13,988 accounts of ineligible farmers. The banks were directed to recover Rs 59.8 crore.
The government has directed the banks to waive regular, overdue and restructured farm loans. Reports state that the government is releasing the due amount to eligible farmers.
