Pb: Loans taken from SC land development corp to be waived

Punjab government will waive loans up to Rs 50,000 each, taken from the Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development and Finance Corporation (PSCLDFC) and Punjab Backward Classes Land Development and Finance Corporation (PBCLDFC), an official spokesperson said here.

The cabinet today paved the way for the waiver, which will benefit 15,890 people who had taken loans up to March 31, 2017, including those who had defaulted on their payments, the official spokesperson said.

A total amount of Rs 52 crore will be waived under the scheme. In the case of Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development and Finance Corporation, there are 14,260 beneficiaries eligible for loan waiver, with a total financial liability of Rs 45.41 crore.

The total number of eligible beneficiaries in the case of Punjab Backward Classes Land Development and Finance Corporation is 1,630 and the financial liability involved is Rs.6.59 crore.

Under the scheme, the beneficiaries would be issued no dues certificates only after they repay the balance amount, with interest, minus Rs 50,000 which the government has decided to waive off, the official said. The cut-off date would be March 31, 2017 for calculation of interest/penal interest.

Those who have already filed a civil case in a court against the corporation would not be covered under this scheme, until they withdraw the cases unconditionally. If any dispute arises for waiving off loan under this scheme, the Executive Director of the Corporation would be the competent authority to take decision, the official said.

The Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development & Finance Corporation advances loans to poor Scheduled Castes people at nominal rate of interest and Punjab Backward Classes Land Development and Finance Corporation advances to poor backward classes people.

The loan recovery of the PSCLDFC and PBCLDFC is 67 per cent and 85 per cent respectively, the spokesman said.