Farm union protests agri bank’s loan recovery practice

Bathinda: BKU (Ekta Sidhupur) on Tuesday began indefinite protests outside branches of the Punjab State Cooperative Agricultural Development Bank (PADB) in 10 districts against the practice of retaining blank cheques from farmers while advancing loans.The farmer body alleged that banks later deposit these cheques when borrowers fail to repay loans on time, triggering litigation and, in some cases, court proceedings for auction of farmers' land. A large number of women activists participated in the protests on the first day.BKU Ekta Sidhupur general secretary Kaka Singh Kotda and senior leader Resham Singh Yatra said the practice was being used to harass financially distressed farmers and should be stopped immediately.The leaders cited the March 23 suicide of two brothers, Jaskaran Singh (38) and Jaswinder Singh (34) of Hari Nau village in Faridkot, who allegedly died by suicide by jumping before a train near Kotkapura amid financial distress linked to loan repayment fears.The farmer leaders clarified that while the bank had no direct role in the suicides, the pressure arising from loan recovery mechanisms had deepened the brothers' distress.