Ratlam: Unfazed with the BJP criticism over farm loan waiver scheme, the Kamal Nath government on Friday started doling out funds by launching the ambitious project formally from Ratlam district in Madhya Pradesh.
Ranging from delays in writing off agriculture loans to state government pressurising co-operative credit societies for sharing the financial burden of the scheme, the opposition BJP has attempted to put the Congress government in trouble over this crucial scheme, which many believe was the game changer in the state assembly polls.
Notwithstanding the controversies attached to the scheme, chief minister Kamal Nath launched the scheme at village Namli. Over 25 lakh farmers would be benefitted from the scheme’s first phase.
Walking the talk on its biggest poll promise, the Congress government started transferring money into the farmers’ accounts on Friday as Nath, while addressing a gathering in Ratlam, said, whatever the Congress promised, it has delivered.
“We started doing what we had promised on the 57th day of coming to power,” said Nath adding they did not wait for five years for fulfilling their poll-promise. “All the promises and announcements would be fulfilled. Congress does not believe in hollow announcements and advertisements,” he added.
In the first phase of loan waiver, 25.49 lakh farmers would receive the waived off loan amounts in their accounts while starting off the waiver. Nath transferred over Rs 134 crore into the bank accounts of 40,000 plus farmers in Ratlam. He also laid foundation of over Rs 197 crore worth developmental works in the district.
Local BJP MLAs, including Chaitanya Kashyap, Rajendra Pandey and Mahesh Makwana, skipped the function in protest. The BJP lawmakers were upset with the fact that they had sought an appointment with the CM over crop losses in Ratlam but the latter did not offer them time.
In accordance with the pre-poll announcement made by party president Rahul Gandhi in Mandsaur in June 2018, the state government is waiving off agricultural loans upto Rs 56,000 crore.
Under the Jai Kisan loan waiver scheme, farmers who had unpaid farm loans as on March 31, 2018 would be covered and those who had paid their dues by December 12, 2018 would also benefit through proportionate amount to be transferred in their accounts.
Through nationalised, regional rural and co-operative banks, over 51 lakh farmers have applied for the farm loan waiver.
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