By Gargi Parsai
In a massive exercise, about 43.50 lakh farmers have sought loan waiver from the Madhya Pradesh government. Of the total 43.50 lakh farmers, 2.38 lakh sought waiver on the closing date alone on Tuesday night, said official sources.
As per official estimates the burden on the state exchequer for waiving off the loans will be in the range of Rs.35,000-37,000 crore.
In keeping with the election promise, the Kamal Nath government had invited applications from farmers who had availed farm loans from commercial and Cooperative banks. The state government appears to be racing against time as it aims to complete the entire process of loan waiver by month-end before Lok Sabha elections are announced.
During a visit to New Delhi last month, the chief minister had told UNI that he expects commercial banks to waive off 50 per cent of farm loans as had been done for industrialists and industry. The Congress party had promised to waive off up to Rs.2 lakh of unpaid farm loans for all category of farmers.
Riding on this promise, the party won the recently held assembly election unseating the BJP that had ruled the state for last 15 years.
Aadhaar card or Aadhaar Enrolment Identity Number is mandatory for transferring money directly into bank account of farmers, which would then be adjusted by banks. The government will then issue a “loan waiver’’ certificate to the farmers.
According to officials, under the Jai Kissan Rin Maafi Yojna of the state government, a total of 25,37,597 applications have been received from farmers under the `Green Forms” category followed by 17,25,872 in `White Form’ category and 86,965 under `Pink Form’ category.
The banks are required to fill up the `Green Forms’ for farmers who have Aadhaar card linked loans. The `White Forms’ will be filled up by banks for farmers who do not have Aadhaar card-linked accounts.
Farmers, who do not feature in either list will be included in `Pink Forms’ list. Local administration will be involved to corroborate their claims.
Action will be taken against applicants who show `bogus loans’. In a political message, instead of paying off banks, the new government is sending the loan waiver amount directly into farmers’ accounts.
The previous government had introduced a Bhavantar Yojna to ensure payment of the Minimum Support Price for rabi and kharif crops to farmers at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,900 crore.
