Reconsider changes in farm loans, Panneerselvam urges centre

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O.Panneerselvam on Wednesday voiced his government's disapproval to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the central government's proposal to reduce farm credit concessions.

In a letter to Modi, the text of which was released to the media here, Panneerselvam requested the prime minister to direct the ministries concerned to reconsider the proposed changes in the interest subvention scheme on farm loans.

"Neither should the level of concessionality for crop loans be reduced, nor should the mode of disbursal of interest subvention be changed to a needlessly complex DBT (direct benefit transfer) based reimbursement mechanism as these would not be in the interest of the farmers," he said.

He also urged Modi that changes in the interest subvention scheme in farm loans should first be discussed with the chief ministers in the National Development Council or the governing council of NITI Aayog.

A decision on this should be taken based on the consent and concurrence of the states, he said.

Since summer cropping in Tamil Nadu is limited, farmers in the state would require loans only after June for the Kuruvai season and after August/September for the Samba crop and other crops.

"Therefore, the interest subvention scheme should be continued beyond June 30, 2015 so that the farmers are assured of easy credit during the main cropping season in Tamil Nadu," Panneerselvam said.