Move to amend money lending law begins in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 23 : A two-day meeting of the central government task force on loan waiver concluded here Saturday with the southern group officials meeting farmers, officials, bankers and policymakers to amend the Kerala Moneylenders' Act.

Addressing reporters here Saturday, Sashi R. Rajagopalan, one of the task force's southern group members, said that their job is to submit a report on the plight of a large number of farmers, who take loans from private moneylenders but are not covered under the loan waiver scheme announced by the central government.

"We had discussions with several farmers, NGOs, policymakers and also the state Finance Minister Thomas Isaac. The existing laws in different states will have to be amended," said Sashi, who is also a director of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.

The central task force has been divided into four groups - north, east, west and south - and the visit by Sashi's group is the first.

This team will now visit Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and would chalk out a solution by reviewing the existing policy measures for addressing the indebtedness arising out of loans from private money lenders and status of its implementation.

The effectiveness of the Kisan Credit Card is also being examined by the task force.

"We will submit our report once we complete our visits and the final report is expected to be ready before March 31st. While there would be synergy in the final report with recommendations from various places, if need be, there can be separate state specific guidelines looking into the need for it," added Sashi.