Elderly woman denied of property rights even after loan waived off by Debt Relief Commission

Sulthan Bathery: An elderly woman Thankamma has been visiting the government offices for the past 11 years for recouping the mortgaged property documents of her house, even after Kerala Farmer’s Debt Relief Commission waived off her loan. Though she was scoffed at by the officials several times, Thankamma continues her struggle at the age of 77 for her rights of a shelter.

A Dhottappankulam native VK Thankamma of Vazhankal house mortgaged the property documents of her 10 cents of land for Rs 45,000 in 1990. She was the only breadwinner of the family after the death of her husband years ago and she has to look after her mentally disabled daughter. Apart from a meagre earning obtained by preparing ayurvedic medicines, Thankamma has no other ways for livelihood. She said that she had paid back Rs 15,000 already to the bank. Without any means, she submitted an application for the Farmer’s Debt Relief Commission and received a notice granting relief on  November 30, 2011. But the officials in the bank were unwilling to return her property documents. 

The bank officials claim that the loan amount of VK Thankamma in Mullankolli has been waived off and the errors in details sent to the Debt Relief Commission by bank had led to VK Thankamma of Dhottappankulam receiving the documents by mistake. They also said that the commission has been informed regarding the fault from the bank’s side. However, when Thankamma approached the commission via rights for information, the latter informed her that they have not received any notice from the bank acknowledging their mistake. 

The officers of the bank asserted that Thankamma’s property had been confiscated in 1996 as she stopped repaying her loan. But Thankamma denied this and said that she herself has been paying the tax for the land for all these years.