[Assam] MicroCredit loans response

[Mohan R. Palleti]

Chan and Umesh:
I appreciate your comments and viewpoints.
The point I am making is not saying that micro-credit should not be given
to the farmer. All I am saying is don't kill him with it!
If an organization is providing micro-credit as a philantrophic measure.
Why do they expect a big return? This is no way different from the
ertswhile money lenders in a different garb.

The point I was making in the story is that most folks specially petty
farmers don't make a lot of money from his field. And his piled up wants
is very high. Farming is not like an enterprise where you put in your
ingredients and you know what and how much output to get. The farmer
depends upon many factors that he has no control upon like rainfall for
instance. He will try to circumvent and cut short the investment for what
it is intended for. The villagers I was referring to is a remote hamlet
called Parvatipuram. This is partially a hindu village, yet what did you
make them do?


Mohan R. Palleti

> C-da,
>
>   I think you look at it from the point of view of the bourgeosie --"look
> at the damn villagers--so cruel !!!  They cut off the ears of the cows!!
> Stop giving them loans!!"
>
>   On the other hand, that could just be a kind of tale cooked up by
> corrupt and lethargic bureaucrats --to stop giving loans --no offense to
> Mohan-da's bro-in-law.  What better way to rpove that the
> good-for-nothing villagers deserve no-better. So much for a just
> society!!
>
>   Umesh
>
> Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at charter.net> wrote:
>
>
>   Umesh:
>
>
>   For a change, you hit the nail right on the head. And this time I mean
> it too :-).
>
>
>
>
>   While I would not cast aspersions on the veracity of Mohan's
> bro-in-law's account, the fact of a whole village, or a number of 'them
> villagers' cutting off the tips of their cows' ears  and taking them to
> the loan collector's office to prove that they were dead, and thus they
> are not responsible for paying on their debt, could mean only the
> following:
>
>
>   A: That these awful villagers are not Hindus. Must be you-know-what's?
> For a Hindu, even a rotten Hindu, would never cut the 'ear lobes' off a
> cow and take them to the loan collector to prove that their cows, given
> as micro-credit, were dead ( a bad loan that is).
>
>
>   How can I say that?
>
>
>   As a dyed-in-the paan-juice kharkhowa villager, I can testify, that even
> the most god-forsaken amongst us would never, ever, resort to doing such
> a horrible thing as cutting off the 'ear-lobes' ( sic) of their cows or
> their calves, to prove to the govt. loan officer, that their cow, given
> to them by their benevolent sorkar in lieu of cash, as micro-credit, was
> defective and now dead, just so they won't have to pay back on their
> loan.
>
>
>   Only them horrible folks that EAT cows and/or don't hesitate to
> ,mutilate/dismember them could do that. Here. U,mesh, you hit the bull's
> eye.
>
>
>   I am however amazed that Bhuban Kokaideu, whose neighbors were 'gorias'(
> Assamese euphemism for Muslims) of Namti-Saarilai Goria Gaon( village);
> would buy that kind of a fairy-tale. But then again, may be I should not
> be!
>
>
>
>
>   cm
>
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>
>
>   At 9:26 PM +0100 10/1/06, umesh sharma wrote:
>   It seems cow-eating/mutilation is common in the region mentioned.
> Umesh
>
> BBaruah at aol.com wrote:
>   In a message dated 01/10/2006 18:22:35 GMT Standard Time,
> mrpallet at ncsu.edu writes:
>   There should also be a law that holds a loanee accountable for charging
> higher than prescribed interests and within some strict guidelines.
>   That is a nice story. In fact it happens often in some form or other.
>   Legislation is always there. The loophole is in the fact that it is
> either cicumvented or not enforced.      Bhuban
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>
>
> Umesh Sharma
> 5121 Lackawanna ST
> College Park,
> (Washington D.C. Metro Region)
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>
> 1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone]
>
> Ed.M. - International Education Policy
> Harvard Graduate School of Education,
> Harvard University,
> Class of 2005
>
> weblog: http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
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>
>
>
> Umesh Sharma
> 5121 Lackawanna ST
> College Park,
> (Washington D.C. Metro Region)
> MD 20740
>
> 1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone]
>
> Ed.M. - International Education Policy
> Harvard Graduate School of Education,
> Harvard University,
> Class of 2005
>
> weblog: http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
> website: www.gse.harvard.edu
>
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