Letter to BS: Loan waiver is the price paid for votes at cost of exchequer

This refers to “As Congress CMs take charge, MP first to get farm loan waiver” (December 18). As assured, the Congress has executed loan waivers to farmers up to a limit of Rs 200,000 as on March 31, 2018. The loan waiver is the price paid for votes at the cost of the exchequer. The agrarian distress is not confined to farmers who are indebted to big financial institutions. There is a huge number of farmers who are indebted to financiers such as micro-lenders, village money lenders and so on. These categories of lenders have a good presence in the rural regions. Middle-class farmers who have borrowed above the waived amount are also sizable and are part of the same farming community that is in distress. Why are they being kept outside the purview of the loan waiver scheme?

Loan waiver is not a remedy for the persisting problems of farmers. Agriculture — and allied activities — is an economic activity and as such, farmers are entitled to reasonable returns. The problem is, farmers are not earning sufficiently.

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V S K Pillai, Kottayam

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