Chandigarh, August 19, 2017: The Punjab government on Saturday clarified that ‘kurki’ stood abolished with the amendment of the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1961, and no amendment was needed to the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, for the purpose.
A clarification to this effect was issued by a government spokesperson in reaction to reports in a section of the media saying that ‘kurki’ had not been eliminated in the absence of amendment to the Punjab Land Revenue Act.
The spokesperson pointed out that the said Act prescribes the procedure to be followed in recovering arrears of land revenue, which involves summary proceedings, for which the concerned Tehsildars are empowered. In many special legislations, including the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1961, it is stated that the procedure for recovering the arrears as prescribed in the Land Revenue Act will be followed.
The spokesperson further explained that for recovering the arrears under the Land Revenue Act, the competent authority is required to declare the amount due as arrears of land revenue under the relevant provisions of the special legislation. Thereafter, a reference is made by the Tehsildar to recover the same, in keeping with the provisions of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887.
In view of the above, it is not necessary to amend the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 to give effect to the amendment of the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1961, whereby Section 67-A has been omitted, said the spokesperson.
With necessary amendments to delete Section 67-A of the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1961, having already been notified, the Assistant Registrar Cooperative Societies can no longer refer loan recovery cases of the Cooperative Banks to the Tehsildar for their recovery as arrears of land revenue, it has been further clarified.
As far as recovery of arrears of loans of the Commercial Banks is concerned, the state government is pursuing the matter with the Government of India since the subject relates to the latter. The spokesperson said the state government was trying to persuade the central government not to undertake kurki of the farmers' land for recovery of outstanding agricultural loans.
According to the spokesperson, for the recovery of loans raised by the farmers from non-institutional resources, including Aarthias, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has appealed to the Aarthias not to resort to kurki. The spokesperson, however, pointed out that there was no record of these loans either with the Government or with any of its agencies since these informal money lenders do not file any return or reference with any Government agency.
For determination and reconciliation of agricultural loans raised by the farmers from non-institutional sources, the State Council of Ministers has constituted a Cabinet Sub Committee, comprising the Finance Minister, Local Government Minister and Rural Development & Panchayats Minister, to examine the Punjab Settlement of Agriculture Indebtedness Act, 2016 and suggest measures to make the law more comprehensive and effective to curb wrong practices in informal lending to the farmers.