Kerala CM urges banks to write off loans of landslide victims, survivors

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government on Monday expressed strong displeasure over banks deducting monthly instalments of loans from the accounts of landslide victims and survivors in Wayanad, and demanded that these loans be written off completely.

Waiving loans would not impose any unbearable burden upon the banks, and so it should be written off completely, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here.

While addressing a meeting of the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) here, the CM said relaxation in interest amounts or extension of time for remitting monthly instalments would not at all be a solution in the landslide-hit regions. “Many of those who had taken the loans are deceased, and their land has become unusable due to the disaster,” he pointed out.

“The only thing we can do is write off the entire loans taken by people in these affected areas,” Vijayan said.

He expressed the government’s strong displeasure over banks continuing to deduct monthly instalments from the accounts of survivors and urged the SLBC (State Level Bankers’ Committee) to take a favourable decision in this matter.

Recalling the horrors and impact of the July 30 tragedy, the CM said a large number of landslide victims or survivors had been engaged in farming activities in Wayanad, but the disaster has even altered the very geography of the agriculture lands there.

Citing reports, he said the affected places have become unusable, and no cultivation or settlement is possible in these areas. “Most of the farmers in the areas have taken out loans. Those who took a loan to build a house had lost the house itself,” the CM said, adding that they were not in a position now to repay the instalments.

The CM also pointed out that the banks, after writing off loans, usually expect the government to pay the

waived amount.