Hyderabad, October 12: Warning of an impending financial distress in the rural areas of the state due to harassment of small borrowers by microfinance companies, CPI state secretary K Narayana on Monday advised them not to repay loans to the companies.
He said the state government has been remaining silent on the issue and urged it to initiate stringent action against the companies. Meanwhile reports continued to come from several parts of the state of microfinance borrowers buckling under the burden of repaying loans to microfinance companies.
In West Godavari district, a housewife allegedly committed suicide by jumping into a well in Katheru village in Rajahmundry rural mandal on Sunday night unable to bear the harassment by loan collectors. Karri Ammaji (50) had taken a loan from a microfinance company and had been repaying it in instalments every alternate day.
A meeting was called in the village on Monday to discuss her default.
On Sunday, her family found her body in a well near the Somalamma temple. Her husband is a mason and they have four daughters.
Police have sent the body to a government hospital for an autopsy. They are investigating the case.
In Warangal district, an autorickshaw driver is said to have committed suicide by hanging on Monday, allegedly unable to repay a loan of Rs 12,000. Mohammed Afzal, 26, reportedly had borrowed the money from a microfinance company and had been regularly paying his loan instalments of Rs 270 per week for the past 16 months. Then his auto broke down and he could not keep up with repayment schedule.
Agents of the microfinance company went to Afzal’s house and allegedly abused him in the presence of his wife Kausar. Afzal sent Kausar to her parents’ place to get the money. When she left, Afzal committed suicide.
Kakatiya University police station circle inspector Ravindra Kumar said a case has been registered against the comapny.
In another incident, a married woman attempted suicide allegedly due to harassment by a microfinance company in Thagallapalli in Koheda mandal in Karimnagar district. She is said to have consumed pesticide on Friday but the incident came to light when CPI leaders visited her in hospital upon hearing of the incident.
However, Koheda police said no complaint has been lodged against any microfinance company.
R Nirmala reportedly borrowed Rs 20,000 each from three microfinance companies several months ago to build her house sanctioned under the Indiramma Awas Yojana. She told the CPI leaders that she ran into repayment problems when the government did not release the second instalment of its assistance for the housing scheme.
–Agencies