Karnal News: Farmers Protest Against UCO Bank, Burn Effigy
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Karnal: On Thursday, members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) held a protest against UCO Bank. The farmers carried out a march from Kisan Bhawan to Ghanta Ghar Chowk and then reached the regional office of UCO Bank with a symbolic bier (arthi) of the bank. There they raised slogans and burnt an effigy of the bank.
The farmers accused the bank of charging excessively high interest on loans. They claimed that even after paying back double the loan amount, the farmer is still shown as a debtor. According to them, the bank is now demanding nearly four times more and threatening to seize six acres of his land.
Before the protest, a panchayat (meeting) was held at Kisan Bhawan under the leadership of former district president Surender Ghumman. In this meeting, farmer Madan Pal Rawal from Kohand village shared his problem. BKU state president Ratan Mann stated that:
In 2013, Madan Pal’s father, Hatheerath Prakash, had taken a loan of around ₹1.47 crore from UCO Bank’s Panipat branch to set up a poultry farm. In 2016, Hatheerath Prakash passed away. Despite this, by 2020, Madan Pal had already repaid about ₹2.35 crore to the bank.
However, in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, poultry farms in the region—including Madan Pal’s—suffered heavy losses. As a result, loan repayment was disrupted. Farmers allege that instead of giving relief, the bank asked Madan Pal to pay back ₹5.80 crore.
The BKU president said that on one side, the government talks about waiving off loans of moneylenders, but on the other side, banks are auctioning the homes and lands of debt-ridden farmers. He warned that this will not be tolerated, and the farmers’ movement will be intensified. They also declared that Madan Pal’s land will not be allowed to be auctioned at any cost.
On 16th September, a 12-member delegation of BKU will meet Deputy Commissioner Uttam Singh to seek a solution to this issue. Many farmer leaders including Mehtab Kadia, Shyam Singh Mann, Surender Sagwan, Dhaneter Rana, former DSP Deshraj Singh, Balbir Tevetia, Dilawar Singh, Yashpal Rana, Joginder Jhinda, Neki Ram, Ram Dureja, Ram Phal Narwal, and Ranbir Katlahedi were present in large numbers during the protest.
