Even as the opposition in UP has come out all guns blazing against the Yogi regime for what it calls a cruel joke on the farmer, the government has given an insight into the description of marginal farmers who benefited, underlining that it is those whose crop loans were disbursed by lending institutions on or before 31st March 2016 who will reap benefits.
Reportedly around 11.9 lakh farmers have been given loan waiver of Rs 7,317 crore in the state. Of them, about 11.25 lakh farmers are those who have been waived between Rs. 10,000 and Rs1 lakh.
Farmers in India’s most populous state say they feel hoodwinked with waivers as miniscule as Re 1 to Rs 18.
Coming at the backdrop of promises by the Yogi regime that upto Rs 1 lakh loans will be waived off, the cheques coming in have created much anger and despair.
REAL POLITIK
Distribution of loan waiver certificates by the state’s labour and employment minister has yet again raised questions on the intent of the government.
While the government of the day in the state calls it a printing error, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Uttam has berated the Yogi government over the move. He tweeted, “Rs 10 loan waiver certificate is a cruel joke on farmers.”
The Yogi government on July 11 presented its first Rs 3,84,659.71 crore budget for 2017-18, making a special provision of Rs 36,000 crore to honour its poll promise of farm loan waiver through debt redemption.
LOAN WAIVER A POTENT POLITICAL TOOL
The UP loan waiver scheme is not the first, successive governments have tried to encash on the farm loan waiver for political gains. Be it the SP or the grand old party each have played the Kisan card at different times. The BSP on the other hand is largely seen as an anti farmer party.
In the 2012 elections BSP lost out for its anti farmer image, after agitations against land acquisition in Tappal and Bhatta Paarsaul.
Post Independence there have been efforts by the likes of Pt Jawaharlal Nehru to better the state of agriculture. The first challenge to Nehru’s policies like cooperative farming came from Charan Singh, a Jat politician of western UP one of north India’s biggest farmers’ leaders and former PM.
In one of her first decisions after being re-elected, late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa issued orders to waive Rs 5,780 crore of loans taken by small and marginal farmers from cooperative banks.
In the heat and dust of the UP Mahadangal, Rahul Gandhi promised a debt waiver to farmers if the Congress formed the government in the state.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, while presenting the budget last year, had said the estimated debt burden of the state could reach Rs 2,93,200 crore by the end of the financial year.
AMIDST LOAN WAIVER HOOPLA, TRUTH BITTER
Estimates suggest populist waiver schemes across states could double ahead of the General Elections in 2019.
As per a statement a total of 11,93,224 farmers were found eligible in the first phase of this loan waiver scheme.
The UP government has pointed out that around 70 percent of the state’s population directly or indirectly depends on agriculture and allied activities.
In spite of this, the farmers of the state are economically very weak, evident from the fact UP ranks 13th in farmers’ income among 18 major states. The average income of farmers in UP is Rs 4,923 per month.
It is lower than national average of Rs 6,426 per month and one-third of the average monthly income of Rs 18,059 of Punjab’s farmer.
UP’s agricultural significance can be understood from the fact that it is India’s biggest producer of wheat, potatoes, sugarcane and milk, and the second biggest producer of rice and grams. Over 50% of the state’s population are farmers, making them a key votary in elections.
WITH JUST TEMPORARY RELIEF SUICIDAL TENDENCIES HIGH
Recent opinion pieces largely mull on the fact that loan waivers can only give temporary relief to UP farmers, failing to rescue them from the circle of decreasing farm incomes, rampant crop failures and resultant debt trap.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) says 256,913 farmers committed suicide between 1995 and 2011.
While larger questions are being raised on the good done by the farm loan waiver, the scheme is pitched as beneficial for 94 lakh farmers owing up to Rs 1 lakh each to banks and seven lakh farmers who had defaulted in repaying.
CENSUS SPEAKS VOLUMES
As much as 67 per cent of India’s farmland is held by the marginal farmers with holdings below one hectare, against less than 1 per cent in large holdings of 10 hectares and above, the latest Agriculture Census shows.
Agriculture contributes nearly 15 per cent of the GDP in India but provides livelihood to a large population.
The recent increase in prices of urea, pesticides after the imposition of Goods and Services Tax (GST) would only aggravate problems of the farmers say politicians.
The Centre has waived farm loans twice – one in 1990 and another in 2008.
NOTE: Photos sourced from the net
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