Madras HC rejects plea of medium farmer seeking loan waiver

The Madras High Court bench here has dismissed a petition filed by a medium farmer from Thanjavur district seeking loan waiver meant for small farmers, after she split her over five-acre land into two parts and obtained seperate loans for them.
When the petition by one Baby came up recently, Justice S Vaidyanathan dismissed it and observed that the loan waiver relief scheme was introduced for the benefit of small and tiny farmers who had lost their livelihood due to drought.
It was unfortunate that those who held more land were also claiming the relief meant for small farmers, he said.

"Such a situation is unfortunate," he added.
The extension of the benefit to bigger farmers would affect small ones.
The big farmers would have other means for livelihood, but not small farmers, he noted.

Condemning the attitude of the petitioner, the judge said he was letting her off without imposing any fine, as she was a farmer.
Meanwhile, the government counsel claimed that the petitioner had filed a fake certificate to avail the loan waiver scheme.
During the enquiry it was found that she possessed more than five acres of lands, and she could not be given the benefit of loan waiver.

The counsel further said that the petitioner had two bits of lands, one measuring 3.19 acres and another 2.70 acres.
While small farmers are supposed to own between 2.5 acres and 5 acres, the tiny farmers need to possess less than 2.5 acres in order to avail the benefit.
The petitioner neither came under the category of small farmer nor tiny farmer and was ineligible for the waiver, he said.
She had obtained two different loans for the two bits of land.
The petitioner has claimed that she was a small farmer and had obtained loan for farm.
Since her crops failed she had sought loan waiver, she submitted.

However, the officials refused to waive her loan and she prayed for Court's direction for the same, she said.