As per report published in Amar Ujala, Ghaziabad District Magistrate (DM) Indra Vikram Singh adopted a strict approach to ensure the approval of loans under the Chief Minister’s Youth Entrepreneur Development Campaign. During a review meeting on Thursday evening at the Vikas Bhawan auditorium, he ordered that no bank officer would be allowed to leave the premises until loans were sanctioned.
The DM said that until the loan related papers are not completed, no one will be able to go home.
On Thursday, Ghaziabad DM held all the bankers captive in Vikas Bhawan auditorium for not passing the loan under Mukhyamantri Yuva Udyami Vikas Abhiyan. After the meeting in the evening, he said that till the loan applications are not passed, they will have to stay here.
Vikas Bhawan auditorium has been locked from outside and arrangements for their food and drink have been made inside. It was also said that if all the applications are not passed by late night, then arrangements for their sleep will also be made there.
The District Magistrate locked everyone in the room and asked to make arrangements for their food and drink. He also told everyone that he will come for inspection again by 9 pm. If the loan is passed, they can go home otherwise arrangements will be made for them to sleep at night. After this, all the employees and officers of the bank remained engaged in the loan work.
This stern directive was not just a warning but was strictly enforced. The impact was immediate—between 5 pm and 9 pm, loans of ₹5 lakh each were approved for 98 entrepreneurs. Only after these approvals were completed were the bank officers permitted to leave the auditorium.
After exiting the meeting, bank officers expressed their relief. One officer remarked, “Today was a very tough day for us.”
DM Reacts to Slow Progress
The DM’s frustration grew when he reviewed the loan approval status at 5 pm. It was revealed that against the target of approving loans for 500 entrepreneurs by January 2024, only 50 loans had been approved so far—just 10% of the goal. Adding to the DM’s ire was the fact that, despite a warning issued during a meeting seven days earlier, only 37 loans had been approved in the intervening week.
Industry Deputy Commissioner Srinath Paswan informed the DM that applications had been pending with banks for more than seven days. A total of 403 applications had been forwarded to banks after completing all formalities, but approvals remained delayed.
Immediate Action Taken
In response, DM Singh ordered that no bank officer would be allowed to leave until loan approvals were processed. This directive led to 98 loans being sanctioned between 5 pm and 9 pm, bringing the total approved loans to 148.
The DM’s decisive action has sent a clear message to banking officials about the urgency of meeting the campaign’s targets and supporting young entrepreneurs.
This is wrong
I don’t understand why Bank officials give scope for such a stern action. You have allocated scheme wise targets under various govt sponsored schemes and applications are being forwarded by respectively departments according to the target but instead of sanctioning the applications you are keeping them pending at your end. I have also worked at various locations in the country but didn’t allowed any govt official to question because once the application is received from govt department either sanctioned it or rejected with valid reasons. Please note that District Magistrate is also questionable due to pendency of applications and non achievement of target’s.