Siwani bank that shamed defaulting farmers faces protest

Tribune News Service

Hisar, December 12

The All-India Kisan Sabha will stage a demonstration outside the District Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank in Bhiwani’s Siwani town on Friday in protest against shaming of farmers who have not paid off their loans.

The bank has pasted posters of 50 defaulting farmers from villages in Siwani subdivision, while urging other banks and financial institutions not to issue loan or any financial assistance to these farmers.

Kisan sabha state secretary Dayanand Punia said a meeting of farmer activists had been called to discuss the matter. “Kisan sabha activists will burn the effigy of the state government,” he said.

The kisan sabha alleged villages in Siwani have been suffering from perennial shortage of irrigation water, resulting in crop loss for about a decade.

Siwani subdivision has agriculture landholdings of about 1.38 lakh acres, out of which kharif crops spread over 55,000 acres suffered losses due to shortage of irrigation water this year.

Punia said, “The BJP has faced the wrath of farmers and this has become evident from Assembly elections results declared on Tuesday.”

Balwan Bagri, another kisan sabha activist, said: “We have been demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations, besides irrigation infrastructure and loan waiver.”