The Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) has countered the Kerala Bank’s claim blaming the former for the delay that prevailed in disbursing payments to farmers for paddy procurement.
In a statement, Supplyco chairman and managing director Sriram Venkitaraman said the claims made by the Kerala Bank were baseless and misleading. He also refuted the allegation that the bank had been excluded from the paddy receipt sheet (PRS) loan scheme.
Besides, Kerala Bank refused to accept the Supplyco’s demand that was made on the basis of the Centre’s directions to reduce interest rate, despite a consortium of banks including the State Bank of India (SBI) agreeing to provide loan at a rate of 6.9%. Supplyco was forced to avail loan from the consortium since the Kerala Bank remained unwilling to provide loan at a low interest rate in order to reduce the financial liability of the government, the official said.
