Aul: Hundreds of farmers staged protest outside the Aul branch of the Cuttack Central Cooperative Bank Monday, alleging large-scale corruption, fraudulent loan transactions and denial of agricultural credit. The protesters claimed that middlemen, in collusion with officials of cooperative societies and the bank, opened fake accounts in the names of farmers and siphoned off more than Rs 50 crore in agricultural loans without their knowledge.
They also alleged that loan waiver benefits meant for farmers were misappropriated by cooperative and bank officials. According to the farmers, many genuine beneficiaries have been unable to withdraw sanctioned loan amounts despite repeated visits to the bank, leaving them without financial support for cultivation.
The allegations primarily concern the Juania and Petapada cooperative societies. Farmers claimed that duplicate accounts were opened in the names of several members, enabling fraudulent loan transactions. They further alleged that 132 farmers of the Juania society were denied access to sanctioned loans after refusing to pay a 40 per cent commission.
Submitting an eight-point memorandum to the Aul tehsil dar, the protesters demanded action against the bank’s chief executive officer, branch manager and society secretaries, removal of middlemen, an independent audit of the two societies and immediate disbursal of pending loans.
Aul tehsildar Suman Ghosh received the memorandum and assured the farmers that their grievances would be forwarded to the district administration for necessary action. Several farmer leaders and hundreds of cultivators participated in the demonstration.