A poor farmer in Karnataka got a call asking him to repay a loan amount immediately, and he had to walk 15 kilometres, only to find out he owed the bank an amount equivalent to 17 fils. As the news went viral, netizens soon protested online for better treatment of the poor in India.
Amade Lakshminarayana works in hilly Shimoga district, in the deep forests. He got a call from the Canara Bank branch at a nearby small town, Nittur, asking him to rush immediately to repay the loan amount. He was not provided further details.
Due to the coronavirus restrictions in India, public transport was unavailable, so a panicked Lakshminarayana started to walk to the bank that is 15 kilometres away.
When he reached the bank, the officials told him that the due amount was Rs 3.46. The shocked farmer immediately paid the amount to clear the loan.
According to Indian news outlets, he had taken an agriculture loan of Rs 35,000 (Dh1,699) from the bank, out of that Rs 32,000 (Dh1,554) was waived off by the government, and he had repaid the remaining Rs 3,000 (Dh145) a few months ago.
"When the bank called me to rush urgently. I panicked. There is no bus service due to lockdown. I don't have any vehicle, not even a bicycle. I reached the bank by foot to clear my outstanding amount of Rs 3 and 46 paisa. The bank's inhuman act has hurt me," he was quoted as saying.
The bank’s manager L. Pingva reportedly said that auditing was underway at the branch and to renew the farmer’s loan, he had to clear the outstanding amount of Rs 3.46 (17fils). They also needed his signature, he added.
The news was reported by Indian news outlets on June 27 and soon went viral online as many netizens criticised the bank for making the farmer walk.
Twitter user @Sonu82811370 replied to a news article and had a suggestion for how the change should have been returned to Lakshminarayana: “How shameful this is. Bank officer who called for 3.46 rupees should be sent 15 km to pay him back remaining .54 paisa (0.02 fils).”
Tweep @DhoundiyalB thought that the loan could have been waived off: “This amount could have been written off. Not a big deal.”
Twitter user @DeivaSahayam thought that India has double standards when it comes to treating the poor: “To pay Rs3 and paisa .45 due, a bank in Karnataka has forced a farmer to walk 15km because no bus due to coronavirus. But if thousands of crores are due, you are given VIP treatment and made to escape from the country with the money.”
