Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday ruled out any waiver of farm loans by the central government, and said the Centre will adhere to meeting its fiscal targets, reported PTI. His comments came after Punjab on Monday became the third state to write off farm loans. Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra had waived these loans as well.
Replying to questions from the media, Jaitley said he would not comment on loan waivers by states as he had made his position on this clear earlier. On June 12, the finance minister had said that states keen on setting aside farm loans will have to generate funds from their own resources.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday said his administration will completely waive crop loans of up to Rs 2 lakh for small and marginal farmers who own up to five acres in the state. Farmers in several states of the country have been protesting, asking for their loans to be set aside. Hundreds of farmers from Rajasthan belonging to the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh had launched an indefinite stir in eight cities across the state on Thursday.
In Madhya Pradesh, five farmers were killed in police firing during a protest in Mandsaur on June 6. Farmers in Maharashtra had been protesting since June 1. They want fair prices for their produce and loan waivers from the state government. The Devendra Fadnavis government finally decided to waive farmer loans on June 11.
In Tamil Nadu, on April 4, the Madras High Court had directed the state government to write off all farm loans accessed through cooperative banks.
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