SWABI: Local farmers have accused an Islamabad-based company of violating an agreement to extend financial facility to them to cultivate potato crop.

Talking to Dawn here on Monday, Haji Sirajul Haq, a leader of the growers, recalled that farmers’ several meetings with the company resulted in an agreement that the former would grow potato and the latter would purchase the produce at an agreed upon price.

He said under the agreement, Khushhali Bank Limited, a microfinance bank, had to disburse Rs170 million to 123 farmers of Razaar and Swabi tehsils, but he alleged that the said company fraudulently transferred the amount to its accounts after the bank reportedly transferred the money to its branch in Swabi.

Other affected growers told Dawn that they did not know about the matter until each one of them received a letter from the bank’s business and transaction unit, Islamabad, asking them to deposit the withdrawn loan to the bank within 15 days. They said they were shell-shocked by the incident as they were totally unaware of the episode.

The farmers showed the letters to Dawn issued to them by the bank, stating that it had informed that each farmer had withdrawn Rs141,800 from the bank’s local branch, last year, and that now they were to deposit Rs181,325 each with interest, within the stipulated date.

The farmers said after receipt of the letter, they went to a local NGO which had effected the agreement between them and the Islamabad-based firm. However, they said the NGO officials expressed ignorance over the matter.

When contacted, NGO officials told Dawn that they knew nothing about the alleged fraud.

The farmers also alleged that the said firm had taken their fake signatures on the documents to transfer the amount to its accounts. They demanded of the authorities concerned to take action against the company officials. The growers feared that the officials might go into hiding or go abroad to evade arrest.

When contacted, an official of the company from Islamabad told Dawn by phone that the firm would pay the amount to the farmers. However, he did not elaborate how.

The NGO officials said under the agreement, the company was to extend loans to 10 farmers in each month. They said in case of company’s failure to pay to farmers they would have no option but to extend support to the growers.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2016