Budget session: Law Min. HK Patil introduces Microfinance bill in Karnataka assembly
Bengaluru: The Karnataka Micro Loan and Small Loan (Prevention of Coercive Actions) Ordinance 2025 was introduced in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, March 6. The bill is being introduced with the motive of protecting borrowers from harassment by money lending mafias.
During the session, Law Minister H.K. Patil introduced the bill on behalf of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Assembly proceedings.
Speaking during the session, Patil highlighted that the lenders often force borrowers to pay high interest. The bill is being proposed with the intention of protecting and relieving the economically vulnerable groups and individuals from harassment of lenders.
“It has been observed that microfinance institutions or lending institutions engaged in the purchase and sale of agricultural commodities or providing loans to the poor and taking the principal in cash or in kind with interest, are found to be resorting to high interest rates, undue hardship, coercion and inhumane recovery,” he said.
The proposed Bill aims to create an effective mechanism to regulate microfinance institutions or lending agencies or institutions operating in the State to protect economically weaker groups and individuals, especially women and women self-help groups.
The bill proposes imprisonment for up to ten years and a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh for those found guilty of forced and inhuman debt collection. In addition, the bill proposes a law that the state government has already enacted through an ordinance.
The bill aims to regulate unregistered moneylenders operating within the legal framework, ensure protection of fundamental rights, and apply to unregistered and unregulated moneylenders without falling under the purview of the RBI. It does not prohibit legal moneylenders. However, it is mentioned that it prohibits forced collections.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
