Mumbai: Only 38% of the ₹40.547 crore allocated for disbursal by banks actually reached farmers in the just-concluded kharif season, sowing for which began on April 1. Year-on-year data on agricultural loan disbursements from the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) till August 15 also shows that during the corresponding period in 2016, banks were able to achieve 76% disbursal.
The rabi sowing season has commenced from October 1, 2017, and the situation is no different. The ₹34,000-crore farm loan waiver scheme is yet to take off, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis blaming banks and his IT department for failing to collate authentic beneficiary data. Till date, four Government Resolutions (GR) have been issued, the latest being a ‘guiding principles notification’ on September 8.
The Opposition is calling the failure to disburse either farm loans or waivers an “indictment” of the government’s “false claims” on providing ₹10,000 to each farmer to begin sowing kharif crops. State Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said the loan waiver scheme announced by the Congress-NCP government that preceded the present BJP-led one was articulated through a single GR, and was pro-farmer. “Initially, this government announced its intention to make land ownership document, called the 7/12 extract, debt-free for 89 lakh farmers through the loan waiver scheme. Subsequent GRs have exposed its real intention to curtail the number of beneficiary farmers on one pretext or the other.”
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He alleged the government is using false facts and figures to exclude farmers from the scheme, leaving them at the mercy of private money lenders. “First, farmers were excluded based on the 2009 cut-off date. Then came the decision to restrict benefits to husband, wife and 18-year-old child, followed by the decision to exclude the fishing community from the definition of ‘agriculturists’. The Congress-NCP government had given farmers’ status to communities involved in fishing and fisheries.”
Now, Mr. Sawant claimed, the government wants to exclude farmers whose loans had been written off by banks. “Is the CM not aware that even after loans are written off in the banks’ books, the recovery of outstanding dues doesn’t end?This government is making the scheme out to be a big favour to farmers,” he said. “The CM is either blaming bankers, his own IT department or farmers for alleged bogus accounts. How do they know they are bogus? If it’s true, are they being probed? When the CM doubts the integrity of bankers, how will farmers trust them?”
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In the minutes of a meeting on June 21 between the government and bankers, uploaded on the SLBC website, concerns were raised on making Aadhaar mandatory for waivers. “Is obtaining Aadhaar number from the borrower mandatory? If a borrower is not having Aadhaar number, can we deny him? Won’t this create problems?” bankers asked. In response, the government said, “Yes, the loan application should have Aadhaar number of borrower. The government feels every person is having an Aadhaar number nowadays and there won’t be a problem in obtaining the same from borrowers.”
In another meeting on September 8, the SLBC chairman asked if Aadhaar numbers would be used to match the government and bank databases. The Deputy Director General, UIDAI, said the customer’s consent is required to link Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts, and it would be inadvisable to seed accounts from the government database with Aadhaar details. However, the Additional Chief Secretary (Cooperation) said consent is implied as the customer has provided details on the State government’s web portal. The UIDAI officer replied saying procedures laid down by UIDAI were as per Government of India notifications and have legal mandates.