The just announced one time settlement for accounts rendered NPA upto 2018 in Jammu & Kashmir Bank is by all probabilities a right move at the right time which would obviously bring profitability to both the NPA account holders and as well as the bank. While the Bank would see an unprecedented dip in the liabilities created by the business accounts rendered NPA upto 2018, the borrowers too have got a golden opportunity to clear the debts without paying interest in short time. What matters the most is the fact that while the borrowers whose business accounts had come in the NPA list years ago were never offered such a golden opportunity by any previous popular government of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state, the J&K Bank during the reigns of several popular governments of erstwhile J&K state also did not get even a single opportunity to come out from the increasing stress of the huge liabilities created by the inability of NPA account holders to repay even their principal amounts for years together. In fact previous several popular governments of erstwhile J&K state did not muster the courage to settle debt clearance issues of hundreds of NPA account holders with the J&K Bank for years together but J&K Government under Lt Governor Manoj Sinha with a new CEO –Cum Managing Director Baldev Prakash at the helm in J&K Bank took a bold and a path breaking initiative to settle the debt clearance issues of NPA account holders and the move by all standards of understandabilities would bring financial stability to both the bank and the NPA account holders. The unsettled grievance of many NPA account holders is that this one time settlement scheme should be applied to such NPA account holders also who have availed loan amount of Rs 5-15 laks as accounts of many small scale industrial units who have availed loan of Rs 5-15 lakhs have also turned NPAs and if brought under one time settlement scheme for clearance of loans availed by them after 2018 their business units can also be revived.
Whatever may be the demands of different categories of NPA account holders the fact remains that 15-60% waiver on loans of Rs 15 lakhs to 5 crores in co-relation to security cover for NPA borrowers is a very huge concession to the NPA borrowers which they won’t get from any popular government in any part of the country. Since the move of the J&K Government under Lt Governor Manoj Sinha has come without any demand from any political or no political quarter on debt settlement issues of NPA account holders with the J&K Bank , irrefutable fact is that such moves won’t not only release the stress of debts on J&K Bank under a new Chairman & Managing Director but would also release the financial and psychological stress on the NPA account holders for whom the gates of reviving their business operations would probably reopen now after several years of chaos, confusion and frustration.
It is also a fact that several other NPA account holders also want benefit of one time settlement scheme against their personal loans too as they claim that they were unable pay the personal loans due to increasing stress on their NPA business accounts. Whatever may be the demands of different categories of NPA account holders the fact remains that 15-60% waiver on loans of Rs 15 lakhs to 5 crores in co-relation to security cover for NPA borrowers is a very huge concession to the NPA borrowers which they won’t get from any popular government in any part of the country. Since the move of the J&K Government under Lt Governor Manoj Sinha has come without any demand from any political or no political quarter on debt settlement issues of NPA account holders with the J&K Bank , irrefutable fact is that such moves won’t not only release the stress of debts on J&K Bank under a new Chairman & Managing Director but would also release the financial and psychological stress on the NPA account holders for whom the gates of reviving their business operations would probably reopen now after several years of chaos, confusion and frustration.
