Denied loan, farmer puts up kidney for sale

A farmer has put his kidney on sale after being denied loan from banks.

30-year-old Ram Kumar from Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) was not able to earn enough to sustain a family of six. He did certificate courses on dairy farming and animal husbandry to try and increase his chances of getting a loan to start a business.

Even after these efforts, he was denied a loan and was forced to put up posters in various localities of Saharanpur and on social media to find a customer for his kidney, according to an Economic Times report.

"On an average, I earn just about Rs 3,000 per month. When I failed to get a loan, people suggested that I should do a course under the Prime Minister Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY). So, I did that," the report quoted Kumar as saying.

He has completed various training courses, including a week-long training programme in dairy farming under the Punjab National Bank Rural Self-Employment Training Institute in 2016.

He also cleared the dairy farmer/ entrepreneur eligibility test under the PMKVY scheme, even after which he was denied a loan.

"Unable to find any other source of income, I am now forced to offer my kidney for sale and I have put up posters. I have got offers from Dubai and Singapore as the posters have been circulated online as well," he said in the report, but did not reveal the price of the kidney.

Rajesh Chaudhary, a local official, told ET: "Kumar had contacted me and it is true that he was denied a loan by a branch of the Union Bank of India. However, I have asked the bank to consider his application and give him a loan on merit basis. I will look into the matter and see what can be done."