Karnataka assembly polls coming, loan waiver for BPL families

Bengaluru: Raising a few eyebrows as the move comes with only months to go for the state assembly polls, the state government has begun the process of waiving off outstanding loans of Rs 2,480 crore of  below poverty line(BPL)  beneficiaries of various housing schemes.

The housing department had proposed the waiver of "unrecoverable loans" of around 10.84 lakh families, who are beneficiaries of the Ashraya and Janata Housing schemes, the recently launched Ambedkar and Basava schemes in rural areas, and the Vajpayee Awaaz Yojana in urban areas. Sources admit that there has been a  lot of pressure from Congress legislators to accept its suggestion and waive the loans in view of the coming Assembly elections. 

But unwilling to carry out the waiver in one shot, the government is planning to do it in phases, they reveal. To begin with it has started distributing loan clearance certificates to the beneficiaries, most of whom are from Dharwad, Davangere and Ballari districts and a few from Udupi and Yadgir districts. 

The Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation gives 50 per cent of the cost of  building Ashraya and Janata houses  as loan and 50 per cent as subsidy. The 10.84 lakh people, who were  given Ashraya houses from 1995 to 2008 , were supposed to pay back their loans taken from it, but have not been able to and now their dues amount to Rs 1480 crore and the interest on it to around Rs 1000 crore.

In the process they are not getting their "hakku patras" and no bank is willing to loan them the money to repay their loans. 

Considering their plight,  the housing department has decided to waive all their dues, officers explain. The process has already begun to distribute "hakku patras" to over eight lakh beneficiaries, they add.