Dharashiv guardian minister Sarnaik tells officials not to harass farmers over loan recovery

Dharashiv Guardian Minister Pratap Sarnaik has told the administration that farmers must not be harassed for loan recovery. Farmers are already in distress because of drought, crop damage, low prices for their produce and mounting financial difficulties. Sarnaik gave the directions to District Collector Kirtikiran Pujar and Superintendent of Police Ritu Khokar.

Sarnaik said farmers should not be put under needless pressure until the government takes a decision on crop insurance and other loans. He also said officials should visit farmers at home, talk to them, reassure them and give them courage. The administration should remain vigilant so that tragic incidents such as suicides do not occur.

The directions follow an incident in Nanded district, where officials had repeatedly pressed a farmer over overdue bank loan instalments, after which the farmer died by suicide. To ensure nothing similar happens again in Dharashiv district, the guardian minister has given the administration the necessary instructions.

According to Sarnaik, farmers in Dharashiv district are facing financial hardship in the drought conditions. Crops have been lost, the cost of production has risen and produce is not fetching the expected price. Many farmers are therefore under financial strain. In such circumstances, the guardian minister said, repeated demands for repayment, pressure or mental harassment for loan recovery should be avoided.

He directed that the patwari and agriculture officers visit the homes of farmers who have taken loans and talk to them. They should understand the farmers' problems, reassure them, give them courage and inform them about available government schemes. Sarnaik said the administration should act sensitively, giving importance to farmers' mental well-being.

The guardian minister was also firm on private moneylenders. He directed the district police chief to take strict action immediately against any private moneylender about whom a complaint is received of harassing farmers for recovery. The police should ensure that farmers caught in financial difficulty are not exploited through pressure.

The guardian minister also said the district collector and the police chief should give the necessary instructions to the departments concerned, banks and recovery agencies, so that farmers are not put under needless pressure until the government decides on crop insurance and other loans.

Farmers have died by suicide because of debt in some other districts, including Parbhani and Nanded. Sarnaik said the administration should take preventive measures so that this does not happen in Dharashiv. He warned that if such a tragic incident occurs in future, the officials concerned would be held responsible.

The guardian minister said the lives of farmers and their mental well-being are of the utmost importance. So that no farmer is driven to the extreme step by financial hardship, he appealed to the administration to intervene in time and bring relief to farmers.