Protests by farmers in the BJP-ruled States of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have focussed on demands for a farm loan waiver of the kind offered in another BJP-ruled State, Uttar Pradesh. The move has created a bit of a pickle for administrations in both these States, with the Centre holding firm to the view that State governments should, in the face of these demands, provide the financial wherewithal themselves for such a scheme.
Both Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh in the past, and more recently Power Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday suggested that loan waivers were to be the States’ own affair, fearing a domino effect for such a move.
“Every State has its own situation… the State government is finding an amicable solution to the problem but the reality is people should focus on solutions rather than trying to politicise the issue,” Mr. Goyal had said at a press meet in the specific context of Madhya Pradesh.
U.P. promise
Sources in the BJP had, even at the time of announcing the Sankalp Patra or manifesto for the U.P. polls promising a farm loan waiver, insisted that it was a State-specific waiver, with the State finding the money to finance it.
“The Sankalp patra was the result of much public consultation among voters on what they wanted out of the new government. Agricultural distress was a big part of the feedback and the waiver had been added as a possible short-term relief to that,” said a senior party leader involved in the process of finalising the Sankalp patra .
Perception problem
The RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) national vice president Prabhakar Kelkar told The Hindu that while loan waivers cannot be the only solution to framers woes, the perception that persistent NPAs of big industrialists and their huge outstanding loans with public sector banks are being condoned is something the government needs to take on board.
“The basic fact is that there is no co-ordination between the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Civil Supplies and Commerce. Import duty on wheat was waived earlier this year, just when a bumper crop is on its way. This directly affects input costs and the price that the farmer will get. Add to that the perception that industrialists like Vijay Mallya owe money to banks and are sitting pretty. Farmers will get agitated and seek a waiver for themselves too,” he said.
“There are very basic things that need to corrected in agriculture, like warehousing, cold chains, decent prices; forget what the Swaminathan Committee says as remuneration — give us even say a ₹120 return on a crop with ₹100 input cost,” he said.
As agitations and suicides by debt-ridden farmers continue, the short term measure of loan waivers gets more traction. Regardless of the Centre’s own attitude to waivers, it’s the elephant in the room that has to be addressed.
