Imphal, August 08: Following the UPA Government's declaration to waive off loans indebted to farmers, the Finance Secretary of the Ministry of Finance has instructed all concerned bank officials to cancel loans indebted to farmers strictly in accordance to guidelines.

This was conveyed by chairman of MPCC's Kishan Khet Mazdoor H Nabakumar who is currently at Delhi.

On August 6, a meeting of all Kishan Khet Mazdoor chairmen of 22 States was held at the office of Secretary, Finance, Banking Service and Insurance at Delhi.

The meeting was presided by AICC president Sonia Gandhi.

According to estimates, it is calculated that it would cost about Rs 72,000 crores in waiving off loans indebted to poor farmers all over the country.

The Union Government, not the banks, would pay this amount necessary for waiving off the indebted loans.

During the August 6 meeting, some Kishan Khet Mazdoor chairmen put forth the complaints of some commercial banks that the UPA Government's initiative to waive loans lacks transparency and cooperation, conveyed Nabakumar.

In connection with the initiative, the Union Government has also already instructed the banks located in Manipur to recruit Grievance Redressal Officers (GROs).

However, no bank has appointed GROs till date resulting in many banks resorting to partiality and biasness.

Nabakumar highlighted the same matter of alleged non-uniformity during the chairmen's meeting.

Taking serious note of the complaint, Sonia Gandhi directed all concerned to solve the problem.

Subsequently, Finance Secretary of the Ministry of Finance instructed all concerned bank officials to execute the national initiative strictly according to guidelines, Nabakumar claimed.

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