U.P. govt yet to recover loans given 3 decades ago, dues stand at ₹16 cr

According to the department, the loan amount of ₹4.4 crore plus the interest accrued over the years stands at ₹16 crore at present.

LUCKNOW As many as 1,030 city residents from the minority community were sanctioned loans amounting to ₹4.4 crore between 1995 and 2007. Over the years, the interest accrued on the loan amount -- sanctioned by the Uttar Pradesh Minorities Finance Development Corporation -- has surpassed the principal amount itself.

The recovery of the loan amount has been rather sluggish. (HT Photo)

According to the department, the loan amount of ₹4.4 crore plus the interest accrued over the years stands at ₹16 crore at present. However, the recovery of this amount has been rather sluggish.

“So far, the department has been able to recover only ₹1.65 crore of the pending loan amount. This is about 40% of the principal amount. We’re currently focusing only on the payment of the principal amount. Once it is recovered, we will decide whether to recover the rest of the interest amount or to waive it off,” said Sone Kumar, district minorities welfare officer.

The loans given to people were in the form of -- term loans, margin money for home loans, or education loans. While the recovery of loans was stopped for a few years due to the Covid pandemic, it has been restarted. The department has set January 25 as the deadline to repay the amount, failing which legal action will be taken against defaulters.

“The borrowers have to repay the amount by the deadline at the office of district minorities welfare office at 65 Collectorate, Kaisarbagh. If they fail to do so, legal action will be taken against them under the Land Revenue Act. A 10% collection fees will also be charged if they don’t pay before the deadline,” added Kumar.