Agriculture Budget: Government to Allocate Rs. 2,500 Crore for Loan Waiver

According to sources, the Rajasthan government aims to provide 2,500 crores in its first ever agriculture budget this month to waive crop loans of farmers to whom banks have issued letters or are in the process of issuing notices for attachment of assets for failing to repay their debts.

"The planning department, which is working with the banks on behalf of the government, has filed a status report on the condition of farmers owed to the banks...[for] this loan waiver," stated an official.

According to the official, cases of attachment of lands of farmers who have been unable to repay loans in the state have been brought to their attention. "The state government issued directives to stop the auctioning of lands to recover crop loans."

According to a second official, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot directed revenue officials to gather records on land attachment cases. It was found that land attachment procedures were being carried out against over 111,000 farmers and that notifications had been issued to 9,000 of them.

On Wednesday, Gehlot said that no country can grow without agriculture and that farmers' income has not doubled as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi by 2022. He also stated that his government will be submitting a separate budget for agriculture to address concerns such as raising farmer income. "...how to build up food processing facilities in the fields."

Gehlot outlined his government's efforts over the previous three years to bring relief to the average man while maintaining the pace of growth.

As soon as he was elected, his government issued a crop loan waiver order. Cooperative bank debts of 14,000 crores have been waived so far. Farmers' loans from nationalized banks that were declared NPA on November 30, 2018, have yet to be waived.

According to political analyst Manish Godha, the projected budget's loan waiver will assist between 200,000 and 300,000 farmers. "The sum is huge... before the next elections." The Gehlot government would do everything possible to fulfill the promise of loan waiver before the elections."

Ram Pal Jat, president of the Kissan Mahapanchayat, said the government should keep its promise of a complete loan waiver. "The state's one-time settlement initiative is commendable."