Farmer leader and member of the Hasiru Sene Gangadhar Patil Kulkarni has said that the State government’s decision to waive farm loan will be of little help for the trouble-hit farmers.
Speaking to presspersons here on Thursday, Mr. Kulkarni said that the decision to waive loan up to ₹ 50,000 taken from cooperatives will not help farmers in a big way.
The government instead should have announced total loan waiver, he said.
Severe drought
Farmers in this region have witnessed severe drought in the last four years and this year too, the monsoon seems to have already skipped Dharwad district. Going by the predictions of the Meteorology Department, farmers were expecting good rainfall and had borrowed loans to buy seeds and fertilizers.
Unfortunately, the district has not received a drop of rain in the last one month and hence, another drought is likely on the cards.
The situation in the rural areas is deteriorating and people are leaving their place of stay in search of work.
Most farmers were compelled to pledge gold ornaments of their wives with banks for loans to take up farming in the fields.
But, as the district is not receiving any rain, farmers are unable to repay loans and are resorting to the extreme step, he added.
Mr. Siddaramaiah’s loan waiver scheme is just a gimmick to shut the mouths of the Opposition party leaders who were demanding loan waiver.
Central subsidies
The Narendra Modi government at the Centre is in favour of the corporate sector and is giving subsidies to them to continue their businesses. Moreover, it is not ready to hear the grievances of the farmers and waive their crop loans, he said. Finance Minister Arun Jaitely has said that if the Union government waives crop loan, the GDP will come down crashing by 2 %. However, he is not keen on protecting the lives of farmers who are ending their lives fearing loan recovery. The Hasiru Sene urges both the Union and State governments to rush to the rescue of farmers failing which they will be compelled to take to the streets, he said.
