Aizawl, Sept 12: Mizoram’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has raised concerns about unrecovered loans totalling over Rs 511 lakh under the New Land Use Policy (NLUP).
The NLUP was the flagship program of the former Congress government (2008-2013 and 2013-2018) that provided interest-free loans of Rs. 6.46 crore to 30 beneficiaries between February 2011 and March 2014. These loans were given against mortgage of Land Settlement Certificates (LSCs) to support infrastructure development in various trades.
The agreements between the beneficiaries and the implementing departments/NLUP Implementing Board (NIB) stipulated that the loans should have been fully repaid between March 2012 and September 2017. In case of default, LSCs were to be surrendered to the State Government by the beneficiaries.
However, the PAC found that the NIB did not maintain separate accounts or separate Savings Bank accounts for the recovered loan amounts. Out of the Rs 6.46 crore disbursed, only Rs 0.94 crore had been recovered, leaving Rs 5.02 crore unrecovered.
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The PAC’s report, presented in the state assembly by Chairman Vanlalhlana, highlighted that apart from the State Horticulture department, which had taken effective measures to recover the interest-free loans, recovery rates in other sectors were very low.
For example, under the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department, loans were given to 16 beneficiaries for the development of piglet multiplication centers, totaling Rs. 1.58 crore.
Only Rs 4.23 lakh had been repaid, leaving a balance of Rs 1.54 crore unpaid. The department explained that the beneficiaries couldn’t repay the loans due to outbreaks of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) in 2013, 2016, and 2018, which resulted in heavy losses.
The NLUP Implementing Board provided interest-free loans to five beneficiaries, amounting to Rs 3.77 crore, for various purposes, including purchasing tea leaves, turmeric, and broom, as well as the procurement and processing of agarbatti. However, only Rs 36 lakh out of the Rs 3.77 crore had been recovered, with an unpaid balance of Rs 3.42 crore. Three out of the five beneficiaries had made no repayments at all.
The PAC report recommended that the government devise a plan of action to recover the outstanding loan amounts.
