-The Hindu
The government has decided to initiate legal action against cooperative banks and financial institutions violating the moratorium on debt relief for fish workers.
Meeting
Minister for Fisheries K. Babu announced this after a meeting with Minister for Cooperation C.N. Balakrishnan and chairman of the Debt Relief Commission for fish workers M.R. Hariharan Nair here on Sunday.
Mr. Babu said the moratorium would remain in force till December 31, 2012 and would apply to all financial institutions, including nationalised and scheduled banks and public sector financial institutions.
The Minister said it had come to the notice of the government that certain institutions were reviewing the applications for debt relief that had already been cleared by the commission.
Loan amount
The government, the Minister said, had issued an order waiving the interest and penal interest and adjusting the outstanding loan amount against the sanctioned debt relief.
Complaints
“There are complaints that some institutions are demanding a one-time payment of the arrears after adjusting the debt relief against the interest and penal interest. The government has permitted the outstanding loan amount to be paid in 12 instalments. Institutions violating the government order will have to face legal action”, he warned.
Case against institution
A press release here quoting Mr. Babu said the government had decided to register a case against an institution in Ernakulam that had ignored the debt relief announced by the commission and had gone ahead with attachment proceedings, leading to the suicide of a fish worker.
Mr. Balakrishnan said a departmental inquiry had been ordered into the incident.
The meeting directed the Fisheries Director and Registrar of Cooperative Societies to disburse the debt relief amount sanctioned by the commission to the relevant institutions.
It decided to take immediate steps to sanction the required amount, over and above the Rs.100 crore already sanctioned.