CHENNAI: Alleging that a farmer in Salem committed suicide due to the insult meted out to him by a private bank for failing to pay the loan due, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss urged the State government to take action against the bank under the newly passed Bill that intends to prevent coercive practices by loan sharks.

“The government has passed a Bill to punish persons who use coercive recovery practices with an imprisonment of 5 years and a Rs 5 lakh penalty. It is unknown whether the Governor has given his assent or not. As the incident happened after the passing of the Bill, the government and the police should take action under the new law,” Anbumani said in a statement.

He also added that the farmers are trapped with the private banks, as the public sector banks and cooperative banks refuse to provide loans. “The government and cooperative banks should ensure small and micro farmers are getting the loans,” he said. In a separate statement, PMK founder S Ramadoss demanded that the State government hold talks with the central government to fix the sugarcane procurement price at Rs 4,000 per tonne. “The State government should provide Rs 1,000 per tonne incentive,” he said.