LOAN WAIVERS AND DEVENDRA FADNAVIS
March 2017: “Bearing the entire amount (of a loan waiver for all farmers) will result in curbing the financial expenditure on infrastructure, such as roads and irrigation and schemes meant for students, minorities, economically backward sections, and the physically handicapped. We do not want to put crores of other people in trouble. We have requested the Centre to prepare a plan, as the state is ready to bear the burden to bring indebted farmers in the institutionalised credit system (ICS) net. Nearly 10 million farmers, of the 13.4 million, pay their loans regularly, while 3.1 million have been thrown out of the ICS. The state will bear its share to help them.” (In the state legislative Assembly)
April 2017: “Any crop loan waiver is not a lasting solution. It helps farmers get rid of debt but doesn’t increase his repaying capacity when he goes for his next crop loan. Instead of a one-time crop loan waiver, which will certainly give us political mileage, our policies are to free farmers from the vicious cycle of debt” (at an interaction with farmers)
April 2017: “Today, even if we were to give a ~30,000-crore loan waiver, it will surely give us political mileage. But, does it make farmers selfreliant? It only helps them wipe off the current debt and seek a fresh loan. They land in the same debt trap. What about their repaying capacity for the next term? My efforts are to infuse this ~30,000 crore regularly in agriculture to provide water, power and strong market linkages to farmers, which will minimise their debt burden, with assured income provided through sustainable agriculture practices.” (At an interaction with farmers)
June 2017: “The loan waiver is for all farmers and not confined to the small and marginal categories. There will be defined parameters to ensure genuine and needy farmers are not left out of the institutional credit bracket” (while announcing the waiver)