After its public notice on the moratorium on bank loans kicked up a row on Sunday, the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) appears to have softened its stance.

SLBC representatives on Monday agreed to cooperate with the State government’s demand that the moratorium on debt recovery on farmers’ loans be extended till December 31, 2019, Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar said.

“A three-member delegation met me on Monday and they are ready to cooperate with the State government’s decision,” Mr. Sunil Kumar said.

A formal announcement in this regard is expected on Tuesday, when SLBC officials are scheduled to hold discussions with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the Agriculture Minister, and government officers. The SLBC also is expected to pass a resolution in this regard.

In its notice, SLBC had stated that the banks can go ahead with recovery measures as the State government’s request for extension lacked approval by the Reserve Bank of India.

SLBC officials reportedly informed the Minister that the public notice issued by them through newspapers did not specifically concern farmers’ loans.

Rather, it was meant as a general clarification in the wake of the twin suicides in Neyyattinkara where the blame was initially laid on a public sector bank.

Other demands

Meanwhile, a number of other issues related to the farm sector will also come up for discussion on Tuesday. The government will ask the SLBC to extend protection offered under Section 31(i) of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act to all land under agriculture in the State.

Although Section 31(i), which pertains to cases where the SARFAESI Act is not applicable, says “any security interest created in agricultural land,” in Kerala only paddy land is exempted at present.