Govt yet to empanel bank for issuing loans to its staff

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 21

Festive season is sombre this time for Haryana Government employees, as the state has failed to empanel a bank to provide loans to them at cheaper rate of interest.

The government had stopped issuing loans to its employees in April. Instead, it announced to empanel a bank to make the process faster.

Sources said the government is working on two proposals. One, it wants to extend loans to its employees directly from banks rather than from the Finance Department. And second, the government wants banks to take over existing loans amounting to Rs700 crore so that it clears its balance sheet.

A special committee has approved a proposal for issuing loans from banks. The authorities have started the process to finalise Punjab National Bank (PNB) for it. It will start giving out loans soon.

There’s one hitch. The Accountant General’s (AG) office has objected to the second proposal. It directed the government to take permission from the Centre for transferring loans from the department to banks.

“The second proposal has been pending with the Centre. We hope it will be finalised soon,” Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu told The Tribune.

Vinod Sharma, spokesman for the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh, said that in the absence of loans from the government, employees were forced to take loans at higher interest rate from banks and private money lenders. He appealed to the government to resolve the matter.

“Without loans, the festive season is dull for employees,” he added.

The government had been providing loans to its employees as marriage, construction of house and other purposes. After receiving complaints of corruption and deliberate delay in the release of loans, the department decided to empanel banks that will provide quick loans to government employees at cheaper rate of interest.