Under NPA threat, Goa Minister Michael Lobo writes to PM, FM for relief package

A day after he was warned by a nationalised bank of his account being classified as an NPA, Goa's Rural Development Minister Michael Lobo on Thursday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urging them to provide financial relief for businessmen who are hit by the second Covid wave.

Lobo, who is a hotelier by trade, also said that if he could be on a bank's radar for defaulting on a loan, the small businessmen in the state would be severely impacted if their bank accounts were classified as NPAs.

"If a bank manager can call me and inform me that my account will be declared as an NPA, what about the common man? What about people who live hand-to-mouth and run small businesses? How will they pay installments? This is an issue which is plaguing people in Goa as well as the rest of India," Lobo told reporters at a press conference in his assembly constituency of Calangute on Thursday.

Lobo also said that not coming to the aid of businesses affected by Covid would increase unemployment in the state and country.

"I am also a businessman. I am getting calls from banks from which I have taken loans. A manager of a bank told me yesterday (Wednesday) that if I do not pay my loan installment by tomorrow (Thursday), it will be declared NPA," the cabinet minister also said.

Lobo said that Sitharaman should direct the Reserve Bank of India Governor to issue a notification asking all banks to go easy on businesses who had to suffer the brunt of the second Covid wave.

"There is a need for a decision on this. The Finance Minister should take a decision and instruct all banks," Lobo said. The Minister also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take steps to offer another moratorium on EMIs on loans, a step which was taken by the central government when the first Covid wave hit the country last year.