
BELAGAVI: A mother of a newborn was made to stay out of her home with the child for non-payment of a loan that her husband had taken from a microfinancier to construct a house at Tarihal, near Belagavi, on Friday. For non-payment of instalments for the past six months, the finance company brought a court order to seize the house and threw the woman and her child out of the house.
Ganapati Lohar, owner of the house, could not pay the loan instalments due to various problems. The finance company asked Lohar to pay the entire Rs 7.5 lakh remaining loan amount in one go.
On hearing about it, Women and Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar and her personal assistant approached officials of the microfinance company and helped the family reoccupy the house. She assured the Lohar family of financial help.
PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi warned microfinance companies against harassing customers for delayed or non-payment of loans. He said the customers avail loans in times of crisis and should be given enough time to repay. He said the government would initiate action against companies if the customers filed complaints against them.
PROTEST AGAINST MICROFINANCE FIRMS
A large number of women, under the banner of Karnataka Rajya Saitha Sangha, protested in front of the deputy commissioner’s office in Belagavi, demanding action against microfinance companies, which are cheating them by extending loans through middlemen. The women threatened to commit mass suicide if the government failed to act against these finance companies. The protesters said recovery agents visit their homes regularly and harass them mentally to repay loans.
Valmiki Microfinance released loans to many women via middlemen, but a major chunk of the loan had been taken by the latter, while women customers got a smaller share of it. The government should order an inquiry, they demanded. The middlemen cheated women to the tune of Rs 3 crore in Khanapur taluk alone, they charged.