Bangalore, October 15: Public sector commercial banks today agreed to reschedule loans taken by farmers in flood-hit areas of Karnataka and provide them additional loans of up to Rs 50,000 each for building houses at low interest rates.
Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, after emerging from a meeting with the state-level Bankers’ Committee, said banks have agreed to convert short-term farm loans into medium-term ones and medium-term ones into long-term ones.
He said the banks have agreed not to press on repayment of instalments on farm loans for the time being and postpone the exercise in the affected areas.
Cheques are being handed out to flood-hit victims and to enable them to encash it, banks have agreed to open accounts for them with zero balance, Yeddyurappa said.
He said a delegation comprising himself, Opposition leaders, senior ministers along with Union ministers hailing from the state would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi on October 20.
They would submit a memorandum on the extent of losses by floods and seek central assistance.
He also said that a session of the State Legislature would be convened for 15 days from November first week.
Yeddyurappa said the Government has already released Rs 1,000 crore to the flood-hit districts for undertaking rehabilitation works on a war-footing.
—Agencies