A total of 13.12 lakh people benefitted through Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin's gesture of waiving Rs 6,000 crore cooperative bank loans on gold upto five sovereigns or less, the government said on Thursday. After Stalin became the Chief Minister he announced that gold loans taken from cooperative banks till March 31, 2021, would be waived and accordingly a government order was issued. The move fulfilled a promise he had made in the DMK poll manifesto, the release said. "About, Rs 4,818.88 crore has been waived to benefit 13,12,717 people who had availed the jewel loans," it said. Loans extended to the women self-help groups through cooperative banks upto March 31, 2021, amounting to Rs 2,755.99 crore was waived to benefit 1,17,617 SHGs. About Rs 35.85 lakh crore interest-free crop loans were extended through co-operative societies to 46,72,849 farmers in three years from May 2021 to December 2023. Among the numerous achievements, the statement recalled the state governmen