Onam bonanza: Debt relief for property dues

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The LDF government on Friday announced a major relief for people whose properties are under the threat of being attached close on the heels of a Rs 3,000-crore Onam bonanza,   The debts of those who have paid at least double the loan amount of up to Rs 5 lakh will be completely waived under the scheme. The one-time settlement scheme, christened the Chief Minister’s Debt Relief Scheme, is a safety-net measure thought up to protect borrowers facing attachment threats for the default of loan taken from government institutions. Over 10,000 families in the low-income bracket are expected to benefit from the scheme.

It is also for those who have paid back at least one-and-a-half times the original amount and are facing attachment proceedings. They will be granted both interest and penal-interest waivers, and institutions will restructure the loan in such a way that the borrower will get two more years to repay double the principal amount. The scheme will be granted to those who have availed of loan from the following institutions: State Housing Construction Board, SC and ST and Backward Welfare Corporations, Handicapped Welfare Corporation and Revenue Department.

The loan-waiver applications, which should be submitted to the institutions from where the loan was taken, will be settled in two months. “The institution concerned will return all the collateral and also grant a no-liability certificate at a time that will be intimated to the loanee,” the official release said. The beneficiary need not furnish any documents except the application to claim the benefit. The scheme is expected to coast the exchequer Rs 40 crore.