Maharashtra government warns nationalised banks of criminal action for refusal of crop loans

The state government has warned that it will file criminal cases against nationalised banks if they refuse to issue crop loans to farmers. Home minister Anil Deshmukh

The state government has warned that it will file criminal cases against nationalised banks if they refuse to issue crop loans to farmers. Home minister Anil Deshmukh said on Tuesday that if the government received any such complaint from the district collectors, the banks will face criminal action.

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“The state government has time and again issued directives to banks over crop loans to farmers for the ongoing kharif season. However, we have received complaints of banks refusing to sanction the loans to the farmers. We will take strict criminal action against banks that are exploiting farmers,” he said in a video statement.

Meanwhile, agriculture minister Dadaji Bhuse has directed a strict action against seed companies that supplied sub-standard soya bean seeds in parts of the state. Taking the cognisance of the complaints about the supplied seeds failing to germinate, Bhuse said that a committee of scientists from Parbhani Agriculture University will be constituted to study the reasons behind it. He has also directed his department to increase the number of flying squads to address the complaints related to the faulty seeds.