Despite PM's recommendation, BoB denies full Rs 2.5-mn loan to UP carpenter

Bank of Baroda asked me to take Rs 1 million and start my work and didn't give me the Rs 2.5 million promised, says the UP-based carpenter

Sandeep Soni, a carpenter from Kanpur's Uttar Pradesh who had in 2016 sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in helping him get a loan, on Saturday cried foul and said despite the Prime Minister's recommendation the bank hadn't granted him the desired loan.

Soni, a resident of Barra area, had inscribed all the 18 episodes and 706 shlokas of Bhagwad Gita on wood and gifted the same to Prime Minister Modi.

He claims he had shown his work to Prime Minister Modi, who had then personally recommended him to officials for a loan under Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) to start a factory.

The 32-year old carpenter has yet again written a letter to the Prime Minister complaining that he is unable to do business, because of the way bank employees are troubling him. And that he has been running from pillar to post for more than a year to get the loan.

"They (Bank of Baroda) said that take Rs 10 lakhs and start your work and didn't give me the Rs 25 lakh", said Soni while talking to ANI.

Soni, was encouraged to start a business by the Prime Minister himself, after the latter got heavily impressed by the gift which the carpenter from Kanpur presented him on March 08, 2016.

"It's been over an year my work is stuck due to monetary constraints, my project was of Rs 25 lakhs and bank gave me Rs 10 lakh only, and every other day they (bank) inform me about several rules," added Soni.

Soni further said that he is hopeful that the Prime Minister will address his woes and take strict against the defaulters.

Watch the file video of Soni, after he gifted Modi the Gita inscriptions in 2016.