UP-based rural bank issues loan recovery notices to farmers a day after COVID-19 lockdown was announced

A day after PM Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19, Prathma Rural Bank in Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh issued recovery notice to farmers, asking them to repay the loan sanctioned under KCC scheme within five days.

Stating that if farmers do not repay their loans within the stipulated time, the bank will take stern action, the notice also warned that “they (farmers) will be deprived of other benefits announced by the government also” in case they fail to repay their loans.

The notice was issued on March 11, and mentioned March 16 as the last date to deposit the KCC loan.

Incidentally, as per records accessed by NH, all the notices were dispatched on March 25 – a day after PM Modi announced the lockdown.

Reacting to the development, UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said that the Yogi government should announce a complete loan-waiver.

Alleging that the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government was being “apathetic” towards farmer’ plight, Lallu said, “Instead of issuing notice to the farmers, Yogi government should do the evaluation of the losses caused to farmers due to the lockdown and provide them compensation.”

“While governments all over the world have announced financial packages to help people, business, workers, and farmers in the time of lockdown, BJP government in Uttar Pradesh is busy recovering loans from poor farmers,” he added.