Proposes a body to check harassment

Mysuru: State BJP OBC Morcha President R. Raghu Kautilya has said, a Committee of concerned public, Advocate and Police should be formed to check the menace of micro finance firms that have been harassing the poor after advancing loan to them.

He was addressing media persons at City BJP Office in Chamarajapuram this morning.

Raghu said, the micro finance firms are playing with the lives of the people in rural areas. Unable to bear the harassment, the people have been deserting the villages. The degree of harassment is such that, it is even worse than private money lenders, who charge exorbitant rate of interest. It seems, the State Government and the Police have also failed to rein in finance firms, who have been functioning throwing the norms of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the wind.

Raghu demanded that the District Administration, State Government and the Home Department should consider it as a special case and come to the rescue of the innocent villagers, by constituting a dedicated Committee.

At taluk-level, the Committee should involve Government Officers and elected representatives. The Home Department should issue a circular at the earliest, to receive the complaints against micro finance firms at the Police Stations, without coming out with any lame excuse.

If the representatives of finance firms issue threat to those who have taken loan, it should be dealt under Goonda Act by booking a case against them. The act of warning the loan takers over phone should also be curtailed. Besides, RBI should frame rules to control the process of advancing loan, charging rate of interest and imposing other charges, by the finance firms.

“Several hundreds of families are traumatised at the hands of finance firms in the State, but it is a matter of regret that, there are no serious discussions in this regard. It should be treated as apolitical issue, as I have been raising the demand in this regard, on behalf of the sufferers,” said Raghu.