Ground Report

An ordinary day for Narayan Halder but there is nothing ordinary about the man who is recovering from tongue and throat cancer. A deeply spiritual man, he believes if you worked for the poor, a divine spirit would empower you to accomplish right things in life. ” I feel a little disheartened,” the man in his late forties said.Why? He explained,once a successful businessman, his financial condition deteriorated, when he first diagnosed cancer in the early 2008. He was first admitted to AMRI,Calcutta. As he hovered on the brink of death, he was sifted to Tata Cancer Research Center, Mumbai.After painful and prolonged treatment, his health condition improved but temporally. Even now, he shuttles between his home town Naihati which is around 37 km away from Calcutta and Mumbai quite often for medical checkup.

As a businessman, he took a cash credit loan worth Rs 28 Lakh from the United Commercial Bank (UCO). He alleged that despite smooth transactions for 22- 23 years with the bank, they withdrew his premature LIC policies despite his written intimation after his illness. He also added that bank send him a letter dated 20.05. 2011 demanding a sum of Rs 58,55,114 with interest within a period of 60 days. After receiving the letter, he met the official of the bank and they assured him that they consider the matter with due consideration.” But I am surprised by their inhuman and irresponsible behavior,” he lamented. The bank also referred the case to Debts Recovery Tribunal no 2. They also send summons under sec 19 (4) of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993.

When contacted, K K Choudhury, the chief manager and deputy zonal head of the UCO bank, said, “we have the right to confiscated the property of defaulters and recover the loan amount due from him after serving them proper notice.” He also added that they waited for three years with humanitarian and compassionate grounds but he failed to repay the dues with interest.

According to experts, the Securitisation & Reconstruction of Financial Assets & Enforcement of the Security Interest (Second) Ordinance, 2002, has given banks absolute powers to attach properties of loan defaulters, who will no longer be able to take refuge of court and thwart attempts by banks to recover their dues. Though Supreme Court upheld the law, but offered some respite to borrowers. But unfortunately these are hardly complied by the banks. They sometimes behave like typical money lenders ignoring