Kumaraswamy says he will make an announcement on farm loan waiver in 15 days after consulting Congress and experts.
Bengaluru: Under pressure from the opposition on the farm loan waiver issue, Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has sought to buy time and put the ball in the farmers’ court by asking them to submit details on the utilisation of their loans.
Addressing a public meeting of farmers at the state assembly Wednesday, Kumaraswamy said he will make an announcement on this matter within 15 days.
Kumaraswamy was of the view that many farmers have not utilised the loan for the genuine purpose. To asses that, he asked them to submit a declaration to respective nodal officers, following which the government will be able to implement the waiver in a phased manner.
He has decided to waive crop loans as well as loans taken from nationalised and cooperative banks in the first phase. The second phase will cover loans taken from commercial banks and the ones taken for purchase of irrigation equipment.
Kumaraswamy also assured the farmers that the government will work out a suitable scheme based on suggestions given by them.
“I will discuss this with the Congress as well as experts and come out with an announcement in the next 15 days,” he said.
Opposition attack
The move is seen as a delaying tactic by Kumaraswamy, who had earlier promised to write off agricultural loans worth Rs 53,000 crore within 24 hours of coming to power.
The BJP had observed a Karnataka bandh Monday, which evoked a lukewarm response, to protest against the alleged failure of the chief minister to keep his promise.
State BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa had also threatened that the party would take the next course of action if Kumaraswamy failed to deliver within stipulated time.
“Kumaraswamy has told the media that he will resign from the chief minister’s post if he fails to deliver on Rs 53,000 crore farm loan waiver within a week. We will wait until then and decide on the next course of action,” Yeddyurappa told reporters Monday.
‘A move in right direction’
Vishwanath Khanapur, a farmer from Gadag district, however, said the steps taken by Kumaraswamy are in the right direction.
“There have been several farmers who have taken loans from the government. Many have bought cars with it; some have built commercial establishments,” he claimed.
“They have cheated the government. If you calculate, the genuine loans taken from the government would not be more than Rs 28,000 crore,” he added.
Another farmer from Dharwad, Bhagwnatappa Puttanavar, said Kumaraswamy has taken a farmer-friendly move. “More than a dozen farmers have committed suicide in the state in the past five days due to crop failure and inability to pay their loans,” he said.
“So many lives will be saved with this loan waiver,” Puttanavar added.
The money would be better spent on irrigation, creating cold chains to reduce spoilage in perishable crops. Such large amounts earmarked for farm loan waivers, which recur with each election, will blight public finances, already strained, and leave almost nothing for creation of infrastructure or improvements in education and healthcare. A race to the bottom.