Yavatmal farmers get notices on loan dues as government 'defaults'

NAGPUR: Farmers in Yavatmal, epicentre of farm suicides in Maharashtra, have received loan recovery notices and land with standing crop is also being taken over to extract dues, despite loan waiver schemes launched by successive state govts in 2017 and 2019.
Notices have been hung on poles erected on sprawling fields, declaring Yavatmal District Central Cooperative Bank (YDCCB)'s symbolic possession of holdings. Sale of farms can be the next big step, even though it entails a protracted procedure.
With the state failing to reimburse the bank after it waived agriculture loans, the cooperative was left with no choice but to recover the amount from farmers, bank chairman, Manish Patil, told TOI. So far, 29 farmers have got the symbolic possession notice for a cumulative loan of Rs 20 crore. However, the list is long and more cases are being sent to cooperatives department to obtain clearance for action.
Loans of 52,000 farmers from YDCCB were waived, but the govt did not release the entire amount on farmers' behalf to the bank. YDCCB is yet to receive as much as Rs 450 crore towards waiver reimbursement and Rs 150 crore under interest subvention scheme. With interest added, the amount touches Rs 900 crore, said the chairman. The Maharashtra govt launched two farm loan waiver schemes in 2017 and 2019 during Devendra Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray's stints as chief ministers. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Shetkari Samman Yojana was launched in 2017, waiving loans up to Rs 1.5 lakh of each farmer. In 2020, the state's flagship Mahatma Jyotibrao Phule Shetkari Karja Mukti Yojana came into effect, waiving loans of Rs 2 lakh per farmer.
"If the state govt kick-started loan waiver schemes with fanfare, money should have been promptly reimbursed to banks. The loans were cleared only on paper. The losses remain as the money has not come from the govt. The issue was taken up time and again, but to no avail," said Patil.
It's understandable funds were not released in doubtful cases. However, the Rs 450crore belongs to over 50,000 farmers whose applications were cleared and included in the final waiver list, said the bank chairman. Farmers repaying loans within the due date are not charged any interest, which is paid by the state. However, reimbursement on this head has only trickled in, says Patil.
YDCCB is sitting on a total NPA of Rs 1,100 crore, which is nearly half of deposits parked in it. This includes non-farm loans too whose borrowers are facing stricter action. However, the bank, despite huge overdue, managed to stay afloat due to prudent practices, he said. However, if this continues, there may be a crisis in the coming 2-3 years, said a bank source.
Manish Jadhav, an activist from Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, says, "the action comes at a time when district's farmers are facing a major drop in output. Cotton and soyabean, the two major crops, are fetching poor rates too. The notices on symbolic takeover of land can impact farmers' psyche. The climatic changes have left a major impact on the yield, bringing it down by 50%," he said. However, the bank continues with the recovery drive.
Hari Pawar, in his sixties, was among the farmers, who was slapped with a recovery notice. He has not repaid a loan of Rs 3 lakh since 2012. With interest added, the amount comes to Rs 8 lakh, he says. There were tough years in between, leaving little surplus money to pay back, he says.