The Tamluk Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank, armed with a high court order, on Wednesday auctioned off a parcel of land belonging to a businessman and his wife as the couple had defaulted on repaying a loan since 2004.
The outstanding Rs 7,06,377 was recovered through the auction of the two-decimal plot, which fetched the bank Rs 8,40,500.
Ashok Adhikari and Chhaya Adhikari, who lived at Ramchandrapur village in East Midnapore, had taken a loan of Rs 3 lakh in 2004. The couple were not present when the auction was executed on Wednesday.
“We are pleased at the success of this auction. We hope to continue the trend so as to remain viable and to instill a sense of discipline in loan beneficiaries,” said bank administrator Falguni Das.
“They had mortgaged five parcels of land for their loan. We will return the other four parcels as well as the additional amount of money from the purchase,” Das added.
Authorities said the bank had been putting up auction notices in Tamluk town since 2012 to recover amounts ranging between Rs 60,000 and Rs 1.2 lakh from 12,287 defaulters.
The Tamluk Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank run by the Trinamul Congress has 62,000 account holders, of whom 32,500 are loan beneficiaries.
The bank issues farm and business loans, but only against mortgages on privately-owned land. The outstanding amount, a source said, is over Rs 50 crore.
In early 2012, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had announced an amendment to the West Bengal Co-operative Societies Act, 2006, which came in the way of auctioning the properties.
Having waited for seven years, the bank authorities moved Calcutta High Court last December to auction off properties of loanees, who had taken money for business purposes but didn’t transact or communicate with the bank for over a decade.
Ashok’s brother Debasish Adhikary said: “My brother had opened a garment shop in Mecheda with the loan but the business did not do well and he defaulted on the repayment.”
Sources have said the couple now live in Calcutta. The Telegraph made repeated attempts to contact them but their mobile phone remained switched off.
“We are hoping that the recent auction will serve as a message to the 12,000-odd defaulters, many of whom haven’t even contacted the bank in several years,” said Das.
Bank chairman Meghnad Pal, who is also Trinamul’s block president in Nandigram, added: “The loans that we are trying to recoup are business loans. We have not touched a single defaulter on a farm loan.”
Trinamul district chief Sisir Adhikari said: “The bank cannot force any farmer to repay loans. They have to be given adequate time for the repayment. While the bank can act on defaulters, it also has a provision to give waivers to them. The bank should keep in mind the present situation while taking action. What the chief minister had said (in 2012) must be followed.”
CPM district secretary Niranjan Sihi said: “This is a time when people need succour and understanding, not the reverse. The bank is misusing its rights.”
“Courts are closed now, so people cannot even appeal against this wrongdoing,” said BJP district president Nabarun Nayak.
