Loanee hotelier sits on hunger strike outside bank

Ludhiana: A hotelier and his friends have pegged a tent and a stage opposite Bank of India’s Model Town branch and are sitting on a hunger strike since Monday night. The protesters are only consuming water.
Businessman Anish Kumar Bakshi, owner of Hotel Ryan Plaza, Doraha, took a loan of Rs 6.8 crore from the bank for construction of the hotel, but unfortunately defaulted on payment as “GLADA dug up a road in front of his establishment for one-and-a-half-year for sewerage work, ruining his business”.
Bakshi, in order to avoid being declared an NPA (non-performing asset), paid back Rs 4.2 crore to the bank after selling several of his assets. Now, he is demanding that the bank should charge him interest on the balance of Rs 2.6 crore, though his principal was Rs 6.8 crore. But the bank officials have not accepted his demand and are charging interest and penalties on the base amount which totals to Rs 4.9 crore.
Talking to the TOI, Bakshi said, “Bank is also a government undertaking and GLADA too is a government body. My business and livelihood were destroyed due to the fault of one government body, which dug up the road outside my property. As a result, customers could not come to my hotel and my reputation suffered and I came under a huge debt. Even after such a setback, I acted as a responsible citizen and sold off several of my other properties and paid back Rs 4.2 crore. Now I am unable to pay back Rs 4.9 crore being asked by the bank. I have repeatedly requested the officials to settle my debt under one-time settlement (OTS) scheme and charge interest on the balance of Rs 2.6 crore and allow me to pay in three instalments, but they are not budging from their stand. I am a law-abiding citizen and not Vijay Mallya or Nirav Modi, who took loan of thousands of crores of rupees and left the country. People like me, who are ready to pay back their liability, are being harassed. They have been threatening to declare us NPAs or are sending legal notices. I will keep sitting here on hunger strike till the bank settles my outstanding dues as per my demand.”
Jaspal, a senior official posted at zonal office of the bank, said, “The loan case pertains to Model Town branch and was later transferred to our main branch in the city. We are doing our best to settle this case and on Tuesday, too, we met the party and offered them solution under OTS. But the party has refused to accept our offer.”