Bengaluru, Feb 27: Facing flak from the opposition BJP in general and from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular over the slow pace of writing off farm loans, the government has accelerated the process, so much so that over 10 lakh farmers have benefited from the scheme in less than a month.
Data shows the JD(S)-Congress government has released Rs 4,163 crore towards the farm loan waiver scheme, benefiting 10.4 lakh farmers, till February 26. The government has so far released Rs 2,363 crore to 6.4 lakh commercial bank accounts and Rs 1,800 crore to accounts of 4 lakh farmers in cooperative banks.
“After identifying beneficiaries through the specially developed software, the seventh list of beneficiaries was released on Tuesday,” said Munish Moudgil, Commissioner, Survey and Settlements and Land Records. “The implementation of the (crop loan waiver) scheme is being accelerated with an aim to cover all eligible crop loans in co-operative institutions and commercial banks at the earliest.”
The scheme was a key electoral promise made by chief minister HD Kumaraswamyin the run up to last year’s assembly election. The opposition BJP has been accusing the JD(S)-Congress government of betraying farmers, saying the benefit had reached only a handful.
Taking advantage of the delay in rolling out the scheme, Modi has been taunting the government and accused the Congress of misleading farmers on loan waiver promises. He said the government is offering “lollipops”. Asked why he described the announcements as “lollipops”, the PM said: “To say a lie and mislead, that is what I call a lollipop.”
Responding to the charge, Kumaraswamy said, “Waiving crop loans is a commitment our coalition government made to farmers of the state to safeguard their interests.”
Although the scheme was announced in July last year, there was inordinate delay in releasing funds as farmers had taken loans from different sources (cooperative banks, public sector banks and private banks) and software had to be developed to identify genuine beneficiaries. The demand for early implementation also mounted pressure on the ruling JD(S)-Congress coalition, especially after Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh also announced similar schemes.
“Earlier, there were problems regarding verification of Aadhaar and ration cards,” Mallesh, a farmer leader, said. “The issue led to the delay. That was sorted out. But now bankers are proving to be a stumbling block for farmers since they are not making it easy to submit details.”
Loans waived as on Feb 26
* Commercial banks: 6.4 lakh farmers Rs 2,363 crore
* Cooperative banks: 4 lakh farmers Rs 1,800 crore
* Total: 10.4 lakh farmers, Rs 4,163 crore.
* North Karnataka districts will get a major chunk of Rs 46,753 crore being spent for farm loans.
* Rs 29,190 crore will be spent on 12 northern districts
* Old Mysuru, comprising 12 districts, will get Rs 12,073 crore
* Central Karnataka districts will get Rs 3,981 crore
* Three coastal districts will get Rs 1,507 crore.
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