Poll-bound MP, Rajasthan unveil sops, loan waivers

JAIPUR/BHOPAL: Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which go to the polls later this year, announced major concessions for farmers, including a farm-loan waiver and higher prices as they sought to curb rural distress.

Making a surprise announcement while presenting the Rajasthan budget, chief minister Vasundhara Raje, under pressure after losing two Lok Sabha constituencies and an assembly seat in recent by-polls, said her gov- ernment had decided to waive up to ~50,000 of all short-term crop loans of small and marginal farmers (borrowed from cooperative banks till September 30, 2017) with an outlay of ~8,000 crore. She said all loan penalties and overdue interest of such farmers would be written off.

In Bhopal, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced a bonus of ~200 a quintal (100 kg) over the federally fixed minimum support price or MSP of wheat and paddy. In 2007-08, Chouhan had announced a bonus of ~150 per quintal of wheat. Successive gluts then prompted his govern- ment to withdraw it in 2015. The timing of that withdrawal wasn’t good; commodity prices fell sharply that year. Chouhan said the state will also waive interest (amounting to ~2,600 crore) on farm loans.

Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan witnessed farmer protests last year due to falling prices.

“Writing off penalties would put farmers back in the category of ‘outstanding’, rather than ‘overdue’ loans,” Raje told the assembly, meaning that farmers eligible for the scheme would no longer be labelled as defaulters.