On Wednesday, the Kerala High Court expressed dissatisfaction over the Centre’s decision not to waive loans taken by Wayanad landslide victims.A division bench of Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Eswaran S. asked the Centre if it was considering waiving loans of landslide victims.The bench said the Centre has waived loans on several occasions, and it cannot claim to be powerless in the case of the affected population of Wayanad.”Who takes into account the plight of borrowers? You waived agricultural loans during 2008-09. So, it is not that you are powerless in the matter of loan waiver,” the bench said.The court was hearing cases related to the rehabilitation of landslide-hit Wayanad.Earlier, the court had asked the State Level Banking Committee (SLBC) not to take any coercive action against any landslide victim who has failed to repay bank loans till the matter of loan waiver is decided by the central government.Additional Solicitor General of India A.R.L. Sundaresan informed the court that the Centre has approved the SLBC’s recommendation to impose a one-year moratorium on loans taken by the affected persons.He also clarified that interest will accrue on these loans during the moratorium period.The court expressed dissatisfaction over the decision, saying that the moratorium is not enough for the Wayanad landslide victims.The ASGI told the court that the decision was taken unanimously in a meeting held in the presence of the state’s chief minister.He justified the decision by saying that during the calamity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there was only a loan moratorium and no loan waiver.Expressing his dissatisfaction, Justice Nambiar said, “The central government cannot cite a past example of improper action to justify an improper action. One has to be aware of the reality of the situation.”The ASG further said that the authorities had independently considered all types of loans—MSME, agriculture, housing, and commercial loans—and only then the decision to provide benefits was taken.The court asked the Centre to file an affidavit detailing the proposal submitted by the SLBC, the proposal accepted by the Central Government, and the decision taken regarding loan waiver.The court was also informed that interest-free loans of Rs 529.50 crore have been sanctioned by the Centre so far for rehabilitation purposes and the last date for use of those funds has been extended from March 31 to December 31, 2025.Scheduling the next hearing of the case on April 9, the court directed the state finance department to deposit the funds for each project to the respective implementing agencies, while also reminding that the funds deposited shall be used only for the project specified therein.Earlier this week, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said in the Rajya Sabha that Rs 530 crore (interest-free loans) has been allocated to Kerala, of which Rs 36 crore is yet to be spent.Talking on this topic, Brajesh Jha, an advocate at the Delhi High Court, said, “It is extremely disappointing on the part of the central government, which decided not to waive off the loan of the victims of the Wayanad landslide. We live in a democratic republic country, where popular government is elected by the people. The preamble itself says that the government is “for the people”; hence, the government should uphold the saying of the preamble for the victims of Wayanad as well. There have been several instances when the government has previously waived off the loans of victims or the unprivileged section of society”.
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