 "Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala CM")
Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday asked various banks to write off the loans of the landslide victims. Photo: X@PinarayiVijayan
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday asked various banks to write off loans of victims and survivors of the landslide in Wayanad, Kerala.
He said that loan forgiveness would not be an unbearable burden for banks and that they should therefore be written off in full.
In a speech to the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC), the Prime Minister said that reducing interest rates or extending the deadlines for transferring monthly installments in the regions affected by the crisis were by no means a solution.
Many of the borrowers are dead and their land has become unusable after the disaster, he stressed.
“The only thing we can do is write off all the loans of the people in the affected areas,” said Vijayan.
He expressed the government’s deep displeasure over the banks’ continued collection of monthly instalments from the landslide survivors and called on the SLBC to take a positive decision in this regard.
Vijayan’s reaction came amid violent protests against Kerala Gramin Bank, which allegedly debited Rs 15,000 as monthly instalment from the account of one of the landslide survivors in Wayanad.
Various political parties staged protests in front of the bank’s Kalpetta branch on Monday.
On July 30, severe landslides occurred in the Mundakkai and Chooralamala regions of Wayanad, almost completely devastating both areas, killing over 200 people and injuring many others.
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First published: August 19, 2024 | 12:32 p.m. IS
