Promise of loan waiver ‘false’, Rajasthan farmers angry

NEW DELHI: Farmers who feel cheated over “false promises” of loan waivers in Rajasthan are planning to launch a massive protest under the banner of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS)—a farmers’ front of Left parties—against the newly formed Congress government in the state.

The Congress had promised that if the party was voted to power, it would waive the loans of farmers in its earliest decisions. In the recently concluded Assembly polls in Rajasthan, the Congress defeated the Vasundhara Raje Scindia-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

Although, soon after taking oath as Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot had announced waivers for farmer loans, taken till 30 November 2018, of up to Rs 2 lakh, farmers claim that the write-offs of loans were “exclusionary” and would, thus, leave a vast majority of the debt ridden farmers without any relief. The Rajasthan government has put several clauses in its loan waiver scheme that will help only farmers who have taken short-term loans from cooperative banks and loans of up to Rs 2 lakh from nationalised, commercial or other banks till 30 November last year. Dr Ashok Dhawale, national president of the AIKS, told The Sunday Guardian: “We have launched protests against the delay in implementation of the proposed loan waiver in Rajasthan. We have already started protests from Sikar district and are planning to intensify the agitation across the state.”  Farmers’ protest in Sikar had become a problem during the BJP rule in 2018 and the Congress is facing the same situation of farmers’ anger now. Political observers say that farmers’ protests are a bad signal for the newly formed Congress government in the state, that too at a time when the general elections are near. The protesting farmers have claimed that several clauses in the loan waiver scheme have excluded almost 99% of the farmers from availing any benefits. A farmer from Sikar district told The Sunday Guardian: “The loan waiver is for farmers who have been declared defaulters. Also, it is applicable to farmers who have borrowed money from the nationalised banks and not for those who have got loans from NBFCs and private moneylenders.”