Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday announced that the state government would waive farmers’ loans up to Rs 50,000. In a tweet, Siddaramaiah said that loans availed by farmers till June 20, 2017, from cooperative banks would be waived.
In another tweet, the chief minister said that loans worth Rs 8,165 crore would thus be written off, benefiting 22,27,506 farmers in the state. “Our government is committed to empower farmers through our policies, innovations and support, especially during acute drought,” Siddaramaiah said. He also urged the Central government to waive farm loans from commercial banks considering the acute drought situation in the country.
Earlier, Maharashtra and Punjab governments waived farm loans. 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.
There have been farmer protests in several states over the past few weeks, demanding loan waivers. Hundreds of farmers from Rajasthan belonging to the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh had launched an indefinite stir in eight cities across the state on June 15. 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, following which, on June 11, the Devendra Fadnavis government announced farm loan waiver.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said that the Centre would not waive any farm loans, since it had to meet its fiscal deficit targets. 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.
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