Nationalised banks have requested the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill to make stronger provisions in the proposed legislation to help banks to make debt recovery an easier process. They have also sought more powers to deal with asset recovery. Officials of five national banks, including that of the Punjab National Bank and the Syndicate Bank, told the panel that there were several lacunae, particularly in defining the agriculture land, and urged Parliament to help them in recovering bad loans. "They told us that definition of agriculture and commercial land differs from State to State. For example, a rubber plantation in Kerala is in agriculture land, but in Karnataka, it is in commercial land. Banks are not supposed to give loans for commercial purposes in agriculture land. Such issues have to be discussed in detail with the States, Banks, the Reserve Bank of India and other stakeholders," said a member of the panel.