Congress sanctions Rs 5000 crore for loan waiver in supplementary budget

New Delhi, Jan 10: Loan waiver of farmers was an important commitment in the Vachan Patra (manifesto) of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh. The Madhya Pradesh cabinet has taken the decision on this issue immediately after the Congress had formed the government in the state. But in the supplementary budget there is nothing much done for the loan waiver.

The loan waiver needs at least Rs 35000 crore while the government sanctioned Rs 5000 crore as yet. Various farmers' organisation are angry with the delay in the loan waiver in the state and working on the strategy of protest against the government in Madhya Pradesh. Even the Kisan Morcha of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning to protest against the Congress government lingering the issue.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath signed the first file of loan waiver as the CM immediately after taking over. Officials of the state have been asked to work for the loan waiver of farmers up to Rs 2 lakh. It is being felt that around 33 lakh farmers will be benefited by this scheme. But provisions made in the interim budget clearly indicate that the government cannot spare anything more than this for loan waiver.

The BJP has said that the supplementary budget allocated for loan waiver is like drop in the ocean. State BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said that the Congress promised in its Vachan Patra that it will waive off all the loan to farmers including crop and non-crop loans. Rs 5000 crore sanctioned for it is too little. Forget about waiving loan in 10 days, the government does not look like waiving loan of 100 farmers in 100 days.

He said, "We will request farmers that they must go to banks and get the information if their loan has been waived off or not. The Congress will try to keep farmers with it on loan waiver but after that torture of farmers on lines of Karnataka will start. The way it is happening in Karnataka where loan waiver of 800 farmers was done.