In a novel agitation, thousands of farmers sent applications to the government seeking waiver of farm loans since they suffered losses owing to drought over the past three years.
The farmers, under the banner of Karnataka State Sugarcane Growers Association and other farmers’ organisations, assembled at the Maharaja College ground on Tuesday morning.
The district administration had deputed its staff at the venue to receive application forms from the farmers and to provide acknowledgement.
D. Randeep, Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru district, received an application from a farmer symbolically.
Addressing the farmers, Kuruburu Shanthakumar, president of the Sugarcane Farmers’ Association, said the Union government had waived crores of rupees worth of loans of industries in the past two years. He said the government was keeping mum though the farmers had incurred huge losses.
Mr. Shanthakumar said the association got printed thousands of forms in which details such as loans availed by farmers, banks or financial institutions from where they borrowed, and crop loss during the past three years.
If the government failed to waive all the farm loans of the farmers, the farmers would stage demonstrations in front of Parliament in January second week.
