Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that in the wake of farmers’ demand for complete loan waiver, he would once again write to the Union government.
Inaugurating the centenary year celebrations of Karnatak Central Co-operative Bank (KCC) at Hurkadliajja Law College Grounds here on Saturday, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the state government’s decision to waive loans, to the tune of ₹50,000 for each farmer, was followed by other States.
He claimed that after writing to seek loan waiver, the government had taken an all-party delegation to meet the Prime Minister on the issue.
However the State BJP leaders did not try to convince the Prime Minister on the issue, he claimed.
He further claimed that the opposition parties were criticising the government’s decision to waive loans instead of welcoming it.
Loans from nationalised banks of Karnataka was ₹42,000 crore, which was not a big amount to the Centre, Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
Referring to industrialists turning into fugitives after siphoning off public money, he said the that Reserve Bank of India and the Union Finance Ministry could not afford to be complacent on the issue.
“Stringent measures are required to retain people’s trust in the banking system,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
Emphasising that the government was committed to strengthening the cooperative sector, he commended KCC Bank for retaining people’s trust even after a century.
Mr. Siddaramaiah claimed that the Congress government was working towards ensuring a school, cooperative society and a gram panchayat in every village to facilitate comprehensive development.
Meanwhile, after some farmers pointed out during his speech that they were yet to get benefit of the loan waiver, Mr. Siddaramaiah clarified that the government had already released ₹4,100 crore for the purpose and had kept ₹4,000 crore as additional funds.
By June all farmers would get the loan benefit, he promised.
