Loan Waiver : Uttar Pradesh farmers wait with a bated breath

Lucknow: Loans taken by farmers In Uttar Pradesh for different agricultural purposes will be waived if the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the state.

Sanjay Bhatnagar
Published on: 29 March 2017 12:23 PM GMT
Loan Waiver : Uttar Pradesh farmers wait with a bated breath
X
Loan Waiver : Uttar Pradesh farmers wait with a bated breath

Lucknow: Loans taken by farmers In Uttar Pradesh for different agricultural purposes will be waived if the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared it time and again at election meetings. Party president Amit Shah had given a specific time. A decision to this effect will be taken at the first cabinet meeting.

Ten days have lapsed since the formation of the new party government in the state but nothing concrete has emerged on the issue. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath who is new to the job has no clue in this regard and the finance department which normally comes to the rescue at such times has provided no relief to him.

The message is loud and clear in the political circles- there are few hiccups in fulfilling the promises of even Prime Minister. The UP bureaucracy is adamant on the issue as it says the whole issue lacks the clarity from the political leadership. What formula has to be applied, what should be the cut-off date, amount limit and the logistics of the announcement -these are few posers to be clarified, according to a senior officer.

Among several problems, one is a stark reality that the financial health of the state is not so good but the announcement of the PM is more than a cardinal dictat for yogi government. Let us see when it happens as the state waits with a bated breath.

All this has only sent shock wave to small and marginal farmers who are facing hardships due to heavy loan burden. For the opposition, particularly the Samajwadi Party, which has been thrown out of power by the party, it is a god-send opportunity.

The party is making much of it and using different fora to convince the farmers that their decision to shift loyalty and back the BJP instead of the SP was a blunder. It will not serve any purpose and go against their interest. Their resentment is likely to grow in days to come.

There are two options for the state to meet the situation. One alternative is to seek special assistance from the Centre. The transfer of usual fund from the Centre will not be enough for the amount is considerably high, more than Rs 60,000 crores. '' Even if it is in the vicinity of Rs 80,000 crore, which looks like the case, it requires a bit of disciplined planning and smart maneuvering of funds to make it happen, considering the deluge of money spending on questionable causes by the Akhilesh Yadav government,'' a senior bureaucrat and financial expert Arvind Narayan Mishra tells newstrack.com

The state government is not in a position to assist them from its own sources because it was burdened by Rs 25,000 crores due to seventh Pay Commission recommendations.

Hoping that the Centre will bail it out the union finance minister Arun Jaitley is being approached. The date and time is not yet fixed for the meeting but either chief minister or state finance minister is likely to meet him soon in this connection.

Till such time as a solution is found there will be an anxious wait for the farmers who total more than two crores.

Sanjay Bhatnagar

Sanjay Bhatnagar

Writer is a bi-lingual journalist with experience of about three decades in print media before switching over to digital media. He is a political commentator and covered many political events in India and abroad.

Next Story