[Pisi Zauing]
NAMSAI, 3 Oct: Around 20 prominent Tai Khamti and Singpho leaders of Namsai and Changlang districts called on union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the Golden Pagoda on Tuesday, during her three-day visit to Namsai district.
Led by Tai-Khamti Singpho Council [TKSC] president PY Singpho and secretary-general Jaleeng Mannou, the high-level team, comprising executive members of the TKSC, the Tai Khamti Development Society (TKDS), the Singpho Development Society (SDS) and the Singpho Women Organisation India (SWO) felicitated her with a memento and presented colourful Tai Khamti Singpho traditional costumes.
While submitting a memorandum on behalf of the Tai Khamti and Singpho communities, the TKSC appealed to the union minister for “urgent modifications of the laid down RBI regulations to limit production of documents to avail loans and subsidies without any hindrances.”
The TKSC leaders requested Sitharaman to “direct the banks to provide loans to the entrepreneurs and unemployed indigenous youths of Arunachal Pradesh, especially of Namsai and Changlang districts, on placement of their land as collateral.”
“On failing to acquire and produce all the demanded documents, the applications of loan seekers are abruptly turned down by the banks,” the memorandum stated.
The TKSC leaders argued that “the borrowers in other states easily avail bank loan against their land or other immovable properties placed as collateral or mortgages. But in Arunachal Pradesh, especially in Namsai and Changlang districts, the loan seekers do not enjoy such facility, because the market value of land cannot be ascertained as the state government is yet to legislate a land law of its own. The absence of land law also bars the beneficiaries from reaping the benefits of subsidies provided by the government under various state and centrally sponsored schemes.”
The team members included TKSC vice-president Innemgam Singpho, TKDS president CS Choutang, SDS secretary-general Ongyun Maio, SWO president Pisilu Singpho, and SWO general secretary Pinna Kitnal Singpho.
