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Will not allow banks to sell farmers’ land for recovery of loans: Tikait
Farm leader Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday came in support of a loan defaulting farmer of Karnal and said farmers will not allow banks to sell their land at nominal prices in the name of recovery of loans
Farm leader Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday came in support of a loan defaulting farmer of Karnal and said farmers will not allow banks to sell their land at nominal prices in the name of recovery of loans.
“The auctioned land will remain in possession of the farmer and he will return the money of the buyer who has purchased the land in an online auction,” Tikait said during his visit to Karnal’s Jalal Viran village.
Tikait added that he will visit the village again to help the farmer during sowing of paddy.
Farmer Rishpal Singh alleged that a nationalised bank sold his 17 kanal and three marla agricultural land for recovery of a pending loan of ₹17 lakh.
Farmers are demanding that the land be returned to Singh as he is ready to repay the loan.
Tikait said instead of selling the entire mortgaged land for ₹17 lakh, the bank should have sold a small plot from the land as per the collector rate. They said auctioning the entire land for recovery of this loan is not justified.
Tikait said farmers need to start an agitation against these banks and officials involved in selling farmers’ land of several crores for much smaller amounts. Loan-defaulting farmers should be given an opportunity to sell their land and repay the debt.
On April 16, following orders of the debts recovery tribunal-II, Chandigarh a police team along with lawyers of a Panipat-based person Deepak Kadiyan, who purchased the land a few years ago in an e-auction, had reached the village to claim possession of the land.
But farmers did not allow them to take possession and the team had to return.
Demands bonus on wheat
Tikait said the government should announce a bonus of ₹500 on MSP of wheat to compensate the losses caused to farmers due to poor yield. As many countries are suffering from wheat shortage due to Russia-Ukraine war and buying the crop at higher prices, the benefit should reach the wheat growers.
He said farm unions will continue with the demand of guaranteed MSP to all crops and have already written to the government about formation of a joint committee over pending issues.
But the government has not responded yet and a meeting of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) will soon be called on this issue.
