Diplomat Correspondent
Jammu, DD, Expressing grave concern over the non-drawl and stoppage of payments of hard earned money of the farmers, deposited by them in the state Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development (SCARD) Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) has sought the immediate intervention of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the affairs of the Bank.
It stated that the bank has allegedly duped its depositors from farming community of crores of rupees, who are not being allowed withdrawals / return of their hard earned money for over couple of months, without disclosing any reasons.
JKPCC Chief Spokesperson and former MLC, Ravinder Sharma, has highlighted the plight of large number of depositors of bank especially from Sunderbani and adjoining areas, who owe from bank over two & half crores of their hard earned deposits in the bank over the years in the shape of recurring and fixed deposits.
The Depositors have approached the bank authorities time and again but the employees of bank too, are without their salaries and are unable to give any satisfactory reply while the higher authorities of the government and bank are totally silent over the serious issue, creating panic amongst the affected people.
There are similar reports from all over, as bank has 57 branches including 24 in Jammu province alone where mostly farmers are the clients of the bank all over J&K and Ladakh. The bank reportedly lacked necessary sanction/ permission from RBI to receive deposits, which needs immediate clarification.
The affected farmers are running from pillar to post and have taken-up the matter with higher ups in the government but without any move forward and there is complete silence by the government especially Cooperative department, over the unrest amongst the thousands of customers of the bank.
Sharma urged the government to come out with a detailed statement of facts and assure the farmers of the security of their hard earned deposits, otherwise the innocent people are facing great hardships and stress.
He urged the Chief Minister to direct the higher ups to clarify the position to the depositors and ensure safety and return of their hard earned deposits at the earliest. (Press Release)
