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Manmeet Singh Gill
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, February 9
A notice from the Debts Recovery Tribunal proved the breaking point in the life of Mangal Singh (60) of Fatehabad Rajputa village.
He allegedly consumed some pesticide yesterday following which he was rushed to a private hospital where the doctors declared him dead at 2 am today.
He owed Rs15,65,286 to the State Bank of Patiala. The notice had asked him to appear before the tribunal on February 22, but he chose to end his life. His family members said Mangal Singh was depressed ever since he received the notice three days ago.
With a land ownership of just three acres and three married sons and their families to sustain, Mangal Singh kept taking loans from time to time. Apart from Rs15.65 lakh he owed to the bank, he had borrowed around Rs5 lakh from an arhtiya.
His son Sukhdev Singh said: “My father had a Kisan Gold card with a credit limit of Rs70,000 and an agricultural credit limit of Rs3.5 lakh. As it became difficult to even pay the interest, the debt kept on piling with each passing year.” He said they used the money to take land on lease to supplement income.
Sukhdev Singh said his father was ‘numberdar’ of the village. “He was a respected man. He felt embarrassed and helpless every time a bank official paid him a visit. He even told my mother once that he would take the debt along with him.”
He said his father failed with three acres of land, how they (three brothers) would manage with only one acre each they inherited. “Besides, we have also got his debt in inheritance,” he said.
Rattan Singh Randhawa of Jamhoori Kisan Sabha said the entire loan of the family should be waived and the government should provide a financial assistance of Rs10 lakh and a job to the family.
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