Minister directs officials to take suo motu action to curb moneylenders’ menace

Cooperation Minister directs officials to take action against exploitation by private moneylenders at grass-roots level.

Taking note of the exploitation of the economically weaker sections by private moneylenders at the grass-roots level, Cooperation Minister K.N. Rajanna has directed officials to take suo motu action to curb the menace.

“People are being exploited by the private moneylenders in villages. The Cabinet has cleared the Karnataka Micro Finance (Prevention of Coercive Actions) Ordinance, 2025, to regulate it. However, the process of getting the Governor’s accent to it is under way. Till then, officials should take suo motu actions under the existing legal provisions to control the menace,” he said.

He was addressing a public meeting after inaugurating the Cooperation Awareness Conference at Kukanur in Koppal district on Saturday.

“If any person commits suicide because of the harassment of local moneylenders, the police must immediately book a case. The government will introduce new regulatory measures. However, the police or local officials should not wait for it. They should take action under the law in force,” he said.

Mr. Rajanna also said the process of establishing cooperative societies at every gram panchayat was on and presidents of the societies would be allowed to participate in gram panchayat meetings.