Online auction of coffee plantations under SARFAESI Act halted

Madikeri, Feb. 12: Growers who were afraid of losing their coffee plantations under the SARFAESI Act are now relieved. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has ordered the officials to take action to halt the online auction. However, an official order to halt the process is yet to be issued. In cases where loans were taken from banks and financial institutions and could not be repaid on time, it was possible to sell non-agricultural assets using the SARFAESI Act without the intervention of the court. In this regard, there were examples of hundreds of farmers' plantations in the state, including Kodagu, which grow coffee, being auctioned without the farmers' knowledge. Advertisements were also published in many newspapers. Any eligible person in the world could also buy coffee plantations online through auction.

There was strong opposition to this from the growers' circle. Buying plantations from other states and countries would affect not only the local people's livelihood but also their culture. There was also a fear that Kodagu would lose its existence.

If a notice was issued to the borrower and he did not repay the loan within 60 days, the property could be seized and auctioned. This left the small and very small farmers in the district in a precarious position. Karnataka is the only state that has been affected by the SARFAESI Act because coffee farming is a commercial crop.

A delegation led by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and MP Kota Srinivas Poojary met the Finance Minister and explained the darkness of the SARFAESI Act. They drew attention to the problems this would cause to more than 95 percent of the small and very small coffee farmers who had taken loans. They also brought to his attention that some bankers and middlemen were misusing this act.

Nirmala Sitharaman, who listened to the petition, has ordered the officials to immediately review the SARFAESI Act for the recovery of coffee farm loans and instruct the banks to stop the online auction process. The delegation that met the minister included MPs Dr. C.N. Manjunath, Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, Mallesh.

KGF attracts attention

The Karnataka Growers Federation (KGF) has welcomed the order to stop the online auction. The delegation led by KGF President Halase Shivanna met Union Ministers H.D. Kumaraswamy, Bhupendra Yadav, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, MPs Kota Srinivas Poojary, Dr. Manjunath and senior officials of several ministries in New Delhi and provided detailed information about the disadvantages of the SARFAESI Act. Later, the delegation of people's representatives met the Finance Minister, as a result of which the government has now decided to stop it. The delegation that met with the representatives included KGF Vice President K.K. Vishwanath, Chikkamagaluru District President K.U. Ratheesh, HDPA Treasurer M.J. Sachin and Mudigere Taluk Secretary K.D. Mohan.

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