The Kerala High Court (HC) on Friday made a strong comment on the reports of EMI being deducted from the compensation received by the victims of the Wayanad tragedy. Some reports are claiming that Kerala Gramin Bank (a regional bank) had deducted the monthly installment (EMI) of the loan from the compensation money received in the accounts of the victims of the devastating Wayanad landslide that occurred last month. Now the court has asked to investigate this.
A division bench of Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Shyam Kumar V.M. directed the state counsel to find out if banks were also indulging in such acts. The court said, “No doubt, banks giving loans can take money. But when money is given for a specific purpose and to fulfil specific obligations, the bank holds it in trust for the beneficiaries. The bank cannot use this money in any other way. Secondly, it is a fundamental duty of the bank to show mercy in such situations. It is our fundamental duty! Mr. Unnikrishnan, please find out if any such incident has taken place in the state. If it is happening, we will intervene.”
According to a Bar and Bench report, the bench lamented that such practices show that people have lost their sense of empathy. “Ultimately, we are forgetting the human aspect of this whole incident! In the first week, everyone will cry and the next week they will resort to such acts,” the court remarked. The court also directed the state government to ensure that the compensation amount paid to the landslide survivors actually reaches the intended beneficiaries. “Please ensure that whatever amount is given (as compensation or relief) actually reaches them. These people cannot be expected to come to the court,” the court said.
The court was hearing a suo motu case to monitor relief measures following the July 30 landslide in Wayanad, in which over 200 people were killed and many more were injured or missing. The court has sought to examine the broader issue of how to prevent such natural disasters in future.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday that steps are being taken for the rehabilitation of the landslide victims in Wayanad district and under this, the banks have decided to refund the monthly installments deducted from the accounts of the victims after July 30 and reschedule their existing loans. Vijayan said that the banks will also propose to their boards of directors to completely waive off the loans taken by the landslide affected people.
The Chief Minister said in a press conference here that these decisions were taken in the meeting of the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) held here on Monday. He said that in the meeting it was decided to return the monthly installments deducted from the people living in the disaster areas after July 30 to their bank accounts. He informed that it was also decided that the existing loans taken for agricultural and non-agricultural purposes will be rescheduled as soon as possible, a loan of up to Rs 25,000 will be made available for immediate relief, which can be repaid in 30 months and all recovery processes in the disaster affected areas will be suspended for the time being.