Cashew processors in Kerala to strike against foreclosure proceedings of banks on Dec 21

Kollam, Dec 17 (KNN) The Cashew Industry Protection Council calls for strike against foreclosure proceedings of banks, on December 21.

The Industries department had earlier announced a one-time settlement scheme for the sector according to which the interest for loans up to Rs 10 crore will be completely written off and entrepreneurs who have taken loans up to Rs 2 crore from various banks can close the loan by paying 50 per cent of the principal.

The processors allege that the banks are going ahead with foreclosure proceedings ignoring the government order. “We feel that the banks not paying any heed to the Industries Minister or State government. They have started recovery proceedings to evict factories and houses. We want the Chief Minister to intervene and resolve the crisis,” said D. Mathewkutty, president of the council.

Demanding immediate measures to revive the cashew sector, the Industry leader have decided to go on a protests followed by an indefinite hunger strike in Kollam.

Processors say they couldn’t avail the interest waiver announced by the government and some banks were not ready to implement the One-Time Settlement (OTS) scheme or restructure their loans.

“The authorities have opted to turn a blind eye towards our plight. Minister P. Rajeev recently said in the Assembly that he hadn’t heard about the suicide of processors which was very unfortunate,” he said.

Recently, the State government had declared a moratorium after two processors committed suicide when they were served Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (Sarfaesi) notice.  (KNN Bureau)