Wilful Violations - Over Rs 500 cr crop loans disbursed before waiver: Min

Replying to the debate on demand for grants for his department, Periasamy said that crop loans were issued in excess of the area under cultivation and scale of price for the crops mentioned in adangal (revenue record) to the tune of Rs 516 crore in the previous AIADMK regime. “Of Rs 516 crore, Salem and Namakkal alone account for Rs 503 crore. The amount (loan) disbursed is manifold higher. It appears the loans were issued in anticipation of waiver,” the Minister informed the House. 

Alleging that loans were issued without the consent of the Central Cooperative Banks (CCBs) using receipt of payments without depositing them, he said, “We digitized the banks. Loans should be recorded. Collected money should be deposited in banks. It was not recorded at all” 

Citing how 12 PACCS (Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies) in Salem had distributed Rs 16.77 crore to 2,698 members, the Minister, armed with official records, said the PACCS in Salem were only eligible to disburse Rs 4.96 crore. 

Loans disbursed before January 31, 2021 were only eligible for waiver, but some loans disbursed after February 2 were recorded as sanctioned before January 31, 2021, he disclosed in the Assembly. 

Citing similar violations in jewel loans, Periasamy referred to their poll promise of waiving jewel loans up to five sovereigns and said that same people have availed jewel loans in multiple banks. About 13.96 lakh people have availed jewel loans worth Rs 5,496 crore in multiple banks in the state.