State appeals to PM to waive agriculture loans

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take steps to waive bank loans availed by farmers in flood-hit districts of the state and sought Rs 2,000 crore central assistance for permanent relocation and rehabilitation of people in low-lying areas.

“The loans availed by the farmers from the banks and other financial institutions may be waived, as it was done a few years ago by the Central Government. This will go a long way in instilling confidence among the farming community,” he said in a letter to the Prime Minister.

Yeddyurappa said Karnataka was facing the worst-ever calamity in the last 100 years and, therefore, it required special attention and consideration while providing the quantum of relief to the people in distress.

“The farmers in the flood-affected districts have been doubly hit, as they had faced a severe drought just before the present tragedy struck them,” he said. The farmers had lost almost everything they had in the deluge and “are not in a position to repay their loans borrowed from financial institutions. Mere rescheduling of loans will not help them much as they will continue to be in debt”, he said.

The chief minister also appealed for enhancing crop compensation from Rs 2000 per hectare to Rs 5,000 in rain-fed areas, from Rs 4,000 to Rs 8,000 for irrigated lands and from Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000 for garden crops.

Stating that 6.55 lakh houses have collapsed or damaged in 15 districts in the recent floods and that two lakh houses need to be rebuilt or relocated, Yeddyurappa requested the Centre to sanction 200,000 additional houses for Karnataka under the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) scheme. “There is also a need to increase the unit cost of IAY houses from Rs 35,000 to Rs 50,000 as the cost of construction has gone up in the recent years,” he said. The chief minister said people in 220 low-lying villages, repeatedly affected by floods, need to be relocated and rehabilitated.

“We need to create proper infrastructure in these rehabilitation colonies. Therefore, I request you to provide Rs 2,000 crore for permanent rehabilitation,” Yeddyurappa said in the letter.