THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a special meeting of the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) on Monday, relief measures were approved for the landslide-affected residents of Wayanad, including loan restructuring and a suspension of recovery actions.
The meeting, which included Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Secretary V Venu, and the state heads of banks and insurance companies, focused on alleviating the financial burden on those impacted by the disaster.
The bankers agreed to consider the chief minister’s proposal for a complete loan waiver, particularly for individuals whose entire families perished in the landslide, survivors who are minors, and those with no viable income sources.
It was noted that the disaster devastated agriculture and other income-generating activities in the region. The affected population had taken a total loan of Rs 35.3 crore across 3,220 loan accounts from 12 banks in the affected area.
To ease the immediate financial strain, the SLBC will restructure all existing loans—covering agricultural, agri-allied, MSME, educational, and housing loans.
