Letters: Loan waiver effect

This refers to the editorial “Bad timing”. Not only is the timing bad but even this decision is bad — on state finances as well as overall credit discipline. Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have waived off farm loans to the tune of Rs 100,000 crore. It is a very wrong precedence. Not long back State Bank of India Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya had said if such a waiver were granted it would disrupt the credit discipline among farmers across the country.
 
I agree with your concerns that states finances are any how in a bad shape and this burden will further drag them down. The Seventh Pay Commission award will also put them behind, and there is no revenue generation of this proportion in sight. It is really alarming.

 
The domino effect of these waivers is for everyone to see as farmers from states where elections are due soon will start demanding waivers. Good political decisions will end up hurting our economics. The government needs to think beyond farm loan waivers, as that is only a short-term solution. Access to technology should not be restricted to rich and large farmers, it must reach small farmers also so that agriculture remains a viable and sustainable profession, otherwise we will keep reading about suicides distress across the country. 
Bal Govind  Noida

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