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Rajasthan agriculture budget: Govt plans to allocate ₹2,500cr for loan waiver
Chief minister Ashok Gehlot has directed revenue officials to collect reports of land attachment cases of farmers ahead of the waiver
JAIPUR: The Rajasthan government plans to allocate ₹2,500 crore in its first ever agriculture budget this month to waive crop loans of farmers, whom banks have given notices or are in the process of receiving them for attachment of properties for failing to repay their debts, officials said.
“The planning department, which is coordinating with the banks on behalf of the government has submitted a status report on the situation of farmers indebted to the banks...[for] this loan waiver,” said an official, who did not want to be named.
The official said cases of attachment of lands of farmers, who have been unable to repay loans in the state, have come to their notice. “The state government issued orders to stop the process of auctioning of lands to recover crop loans.”
A second official said chief minister Ashok Gehlot directed the revenue officials to collect reports of land attachment cases. It emerged that land attachment processes were going on against over 111,000 farmers and notices have been issued to 9,000 of them.
The second official said loans worth ₹6,018 crore of over 300,000 farmers have been declared non-performing assets (NPA). Loans worth ₹2,500 crore to ₹3,000 crore fall under the purview of attachment under the Rajasthan Agriculture Credit Operations (Removal of Difficulties) Act. The state government is planning to waive these loans.
Ahead of the 2023 elections, the Congress government wants to fulfil its poll promise of waiving loans.
Gehlot on Wednesday said no country can progress without agriculture and added the farmers’ income has not doubled as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise by 2022. He added his government was presenting a separate budget for agriculture to focus on issues like increasing the income of farmers. “...how to set up food processing units in the fields... exemption has been given for land conversion, and grants.”
Gehlot detailed his government’s efforts to provide relief to the common person and to maintain the pace of development over the last three years.
His government issued a crop loan waiver order as soon as it was voted to power. Till now loans worth ₹14,000 crore of cooperative banks have been waived. The loans of farmers from the nationalised banks declared NPA on November 30, 2018, are yet to be waived.
Political analyst Manish Godha said the loan waiver in the proposed budget will benefit around 200,000 to 300,000 farmers. “The amount is huge... before the next elections. The Gehlot government will try its best to fulfil the promise of loan waiver before the elections.”
Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vasudev Devnani questioned how can the government make such a provision in the budget, citing its financial management.
Kissan Mahapanchayat president Ram Pal Jat said the government should fulfil the promise of a complete loan waiver. “The state’s initiative of one-time settlement is welcome.”
Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vasudev Devnani questioned how can the government make such a provision in the budget, citing its financial management.
Kissan Mahapanchayat president Ram Pal Jat said the government should fulfil the promise of complete loan waiver. “The state’s initiative of one-time settlement is welcome.”
