On July 27, the State Sahakar Bharati in Karkala urged the state government to immediately release the full amount of outstanding funds from the loan waiver scheme provided to farmers through Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Societies (PACS). The scheme was announced in the financial year 2018-19 by the government led by then Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, with a loan waiver of up to ₹1 lakh for farmers. However, several years later, the full amount of the loan waiver has still not been released to many PACS in the state. Approximately ₹22.15 lakh in loan waiver funds are pending in Bukksagara Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Society alone. Across the state, hundreds of societies are waiting for crores of rupees in pending funds, which is deteriorating the financial condition of PACS. The State Sahakar Bharati argues that since the loan waiver amount was announced by the government, it is not right to burden the societies with this amount. As a result, societies are incurring interest and other financial burdens due to the pending funds, which is alarming for the cooperative sector. Some societies are struggling to manage daily administrative expenses, including staff salaries. Additionally, there is dissatisfaction within the societies that margin money and other grants are being used to adjust old outstanding or current accounts, further increasing the pressure on financially weak PACS.
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📰 Source: Vartha Bharati DK