Amravati : Amravati: A landless sharecropper of Khodgaon village in drought-hit Anjangaon Surji taluka is living on the street with his family after a housing finance company sealed his modest home for a loan default of Rs 3.5lakh.




After the forcible eviction , Vivek Duryodhan Ramekar , 43, and his family, including his elderly mother, wife and children are pavement dwellers since Wednesday night. “The drought has wrecked our jobs. We are daily wage earners. We will die by suicide if we don’t get justice,” he told the district administration officials.




Ramekar had taken a home loan of Rs 2.57 lakh in 2018 with a monthly instalment of Rs 4,000. The family claimed to have paid more than Rs 3lakh so far. “The finance firm claimed Rs 3.94 lakh, including interest, is outstanding and the seal won’t be removed till the amount is paid,” he said.




Khodgaon villagers came out in support of the distressed family and crowdfunded Rs 20,000 and requested loan officials to allow more time to pay up. However, company officials sealed the house and evicted the labourer family, alleged sarpanch Yogesh Nemade, deputy sarpanch Atul Kharode and other villagers.




Talking to TOI, collection manager of the finance company, Chetan Ghurde, and the company’s advocate, Manish Sharma, said action was taken as per the order of the chief judicial magistrate, Amravati.




The daily-wage earner is already facing starvation due to drought. They could not afford their daughter’s English medium education and moved her to a zilla parishad school. “Our rations have dried up and we are struggling to have two square meals. Should we repay the loan or educate our children,” asked Ramekar’s 64-year-old mother Asha Duryodhan Ramekar.




Daryapur MLA Gajanan Lawate lashed out at the loan officials, saying rendering a poor family homeless in a drought-hit taluka is condemnable. “This is a blot on humanity. The family should get justice,” said MLA Lawate, who directed the district collector, Ashish Yerekar, to probe into the loan recovery method and interest charged by the finance company.