TIRUCHY: While out of as many as 4,471 Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies (PACCS), more than 50 per cent of them are struggling to even generate funds for staff salaries. The cooperative society union leaders claim that the state government had not even settled the complete loan waiver funds from the previous waivers, despite RBI guidelines.
“We do not blame the state government for fixing the ceiling for the crop loan waiver as a whopping fund of Rs 40,000 crore needed to write off the entire crop loans and the societies are at the receiving end due to non-payment of loans by the farmers as we are even finding very difficult in generating funds for the staff salary,” said C Kuppusamy, State Honorary Secretary of Tamil Nadu Primary Cooperative Society All Employees Federation.
Kuppusamy, who claimed that the loan waiver culture is a threat to all the cooperative societies, as the staff are not allowed to initiate steps to take action against the loan defaulters.
“Despite a few farmers paying back the loans promptly, many of them are of the opinion to wait as the government's use of the loan waiver promises a prime one during every election,” he said.
He also said that as many as 4,471 PACCS are functioning across the state among them only 30 per cent run profitably, while around 50 per cent are in the condition that they can manage the functioning of the society and more than 20 per cent of the societies face financial crunch. “They even struggle to generate funds for the staff salary,” Kuppusamy claimed.
It is easy for the governments to announce a loan waiver in the assembly to woo the farmers but the payback system is not convincing.
“After the announcements, the government advises the societies not to be strict with the defaulters, and so we are in a pathetic situation,” he stressed further.
Meanwhile, the farmers across the state, led by Tamilaga Vivasayigal Pathugappu Sangam, announced a statewide protest demanding the total waiver of crop loans.
“Farmers are disappointed that the total waiver of crop loans applies to those who availed a loan up to Rs 50,000. Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay promised total loan waiver during his election campaign, but the announcement after assuming office is different, and so the farmers have decided to hold a protest across the state,” Easan Murugasamy, the president of Tamilaga Vivasayigal Pathukappu Sangam, said.