On Monday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan appealed to various banks to waive the loans taken by landslide victims and survivors in Wayanad, Kerala. He stated that forgiving these loans would not place an unbearable burden on the banks, and therefore, they should be completely waived.
Addressing the state-level bankers’ committee (SLBC) meeting, the Chief Minister mentioned that waiving interest or extending the deadline for monthly installments would not provide any real relief to the affected areas.
He highlighted that many of those who had taken loans have died, and their lands have become unusable following the disaster. Vijayan emphasized, “The only thing we can do is to completely forgive the loans taken by people from these affected areas.”
He expressed the government’s strong displeasure with banks demanding monthly installments from landslide victims and urged the SLBC to make favorable decisions in this regard. Vijayan’s response came amid intense protests against the Kerala Gramin Bank, which reportedly deducted ₹15,000 as a monthly installment from the account of one of the landslide victims in Wayanad.
Various political parties protested in front of the bank’s branch in Kalpetta on Monday. On July 30, massive landslides occurred in the Mundakkai and Chooralamala regions of Wayanad, causing devastation in both areas, killing over 200 people, and injuring many others.
