Karnataka Growers’ Federation, on Saturday, appealed to Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal to restructure bank loans borrowed by the coffee planters, considering the problems they have been facing at present.
A delegation of the KGF met Mr. Goyal in Bengaluru and submitted a memorandum with several demands.
The demands include a special package for the growers, as they had been facing economic loss due to various factors. “The coffee growers should get benefits on a par with growers of other crops. The compensation paid through the national disaster relief funds was negligible considering the loss suffered by the growers”, the KGF said.
The delegation also urged the Minister not to apply the provisions of the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI Act) on the coffee growers.
The Minister, responding to the demands on the spot, contacted the Finance Ministry officials and appealed to them to issue an order not to apply the provisions of the SARFAESI Act to coffee planters.
Coffee Board chairman M.S. Boje Gowda, vice-chairman Mahabala, secretary K.G. Jagadish, KGF president H.T. Mohan Kumar, vice president Nanda Belliappa, former president B.A. Jagannath and others were present in the delegation.
