Study on the Dark Pages of Usury by Ravenous Loan Sharks in India: A Review on Media Reports

Abstract

Usury is a plague which haunts most of the underdeveloped sections of the society. The objective of this paper is to show the dark pages of the private moneylenders, their history, why people go to them and not to formal financial institutions. The paper also discusses on the surety asked for loans by loan sharks, consequences of default of payment by borrowers, notorious instances, various laws to protect the affected and probable solutions for this issue. Media is continuously reporting the evils of usury which clearly reveals the wicked grip usury has on the society. Nobody, the rich or the poor is spared. Government also has taken initiatives. But the problem is perennial. To support this study, a review was done on the media reporting on usury. The paper is a review of the “private money lenders” in India.