Merciless bankers leave Wanaparthy farmer’s family in rude shock

Lacha Goud woke up on Tuesday to hear bank officials making announcements through a tom-tom and microphone, declaring that two acres of his land, mortgaged against a loan of Rs.5 lakh, would be auctioned at the Gram Panchayat office

Wanaparthy: In an incident that has shaken the small farming community of Duppali village in Madanapuram mandal of Wanaparthy, a farmer Lacha Goud woke up on Tuesday to hear bank officials making loud announcements through a tom-tom and microphone. The announcements declared that two acres of his land, mortgaged against a loan of Rs.5 lakh, would be auctioned at the Gram Panchayat office on December 21.The news sent shockwaves through the village, as it was unprecedented for farmers in the area to have their property auctioned by bankers. Goud’s family, desperate to prevent the auction, rushed to meet bank officials and pleaded with them to stop making such announcements, explaining that they were still trying to mobilize the money owed to the District Cooperative Central Bank. They even fell at the feet of the officials, but their pleas went unheard.

Lacha Goud tried to request elected representatives to intervene and halt the bank’s auction. Despite the efforts of neighbouring farmers who assured the bankers that Goud would repay the loan and requested some grace time, the bank officials remained firm in their decision. Goud had borrowed from the bank against his land due to repeated crop losses. The following year, he fell ill and had to spend nearly Rs.4 lakh on treatment in a private hospital. Despite these challenges, he managed to repay a major part of the borrowed amount, leaving an outstanding balance of only Rs.1.70 lakh to be cleared finally. The bankers did not consider his pleas for a crop loan waiver or loan rescheduling.

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