Why ‘kurki’, auction of Punjab bizmen properties create no buzz?
Today again I was reminded of helpless face of a Ludhiana businessman known to me. The reason: a public notice by Punjab National Bank published in July 31 edition of The Indian Express for auction defaluters properties.
I was reminded how this small businessman, at that time, was entreating the bank officials to spare his house while offering his two business premises for auction.
His inability to repay bank loans owes largely to lingering slump in business. No prizes for guessing the slump is outcome of the government policies aimed at bringing in “new economic order”.
The same is story of business people in general. The slump induced inability to repay loans led to increase in the liabilities to banks which declared them defaulters. The following action of 'kurki', auction of their properties pledged as securities only contributed in further deepening of the financial crisis they were already in.
This probably is the painful story of the cases of defaulting Ludhiana and Moga business people listed publicly in the newspaper on behalf of Punjab National Bank.
Almost every month one gets to see such lists of business people of the region made public in through newspapers describing names of defaulters, their firms, their locations and dates of auction. Put together, their number may run into thousands.
I had written my first column in 2015 on the issue after reading one such auction notice in a newspaper. I had quoted in that an instance of one of my relations. The entire buzz about debt-ridden Punjab farmers is there for long and quite justifiably so. But it’s surprising that the plight of business people, especially those running medium and small enterprises that form the backbone of business activities and keeps the state economy floating, hardly forms part of any public discourse.There may be some willful defaulters in these lists of banks but the volume indicates that this is not a problem of an individual or a selected group of people and this worth noticeable phenomena.
There have been reports of even suicides from Ludhiana called Business Capital of Punjab, due to financial crisis by defaulting businessmen. Almost every month their properties are being put under hammer.
( A sample : Photo of Auction notice published by PNB to auction the confiscated properties of the loan defaulters of Moga and Ludhiana )
We tend to easily overlook the fact that Punjab’s farm crisis is directly and indirectly liked with the prevailing crisis in business and trade in the state. This has resulted in throwing out of work not only urban industrial workers but also plugged the possible employment avenues for the rural unemployed workers from rural areas.
The relief in farm crisis can come about only if the industry and business flourishes and throw open possibilities of employment.
Is it fair then on part of the state, central governments and banks dole out exemptions worth millions to pull corporate businesses out of the red but ignore micro, small and medium enterprises? In Punjab, they constitute more than 90 percent of the industry and business.
July 31, 2017
Edited by Raju William, Associate Editor, babushahi.com
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Baljit Balli, Editor, Babushahi.com & BABUSHAHI TV
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