BENGALURU: Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's disapproval of farm loan waiver has not gone down well with farmers' unions. Making the community's anger clear, Raitha Sangha chief Kodihalli Chandrashekhar on Wednesday asked Siddaramaiah to "cooperate with the government" instead of singing contradictory tunes over the waiver.
The farmers union has also threatened to begin a "non-repayment" protest if the H D Kumaraswamy government fails to waive off farm loans in the upcoming budget.
"My appeal to Siddaramaiah is simple. Congress company should stop singing differing tunes on farm loan waiver. It appears disgusting to farmers. Cooperate with the government and help farmers get out of this loan crisis," Chandrashekhar urged.
While calling out to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to stop talking and buying time and start working towards the waiver, he announced the union's next course of action.
Farmers from across the state are all set to abandon their loans and refuse to repay it if the JD(S)-Congress coalition government fails to announce at least a crop loan waiver in the upcoming budget session. "Let the government bring in any legislation and make us repay the loan. If we are not happy with the waiver announcement, we will refuse to repay loans," Chandrashekhar said.
The government has proposed to filter out farmers who have other sources of income and livelihood from the waiver- a condition that farmer unions have currently agreed to. The proposed phase-wise loan waiver intends to waive off crop loans in the first phase and other agriculture-related loans including equipment loans in the second instalment.
"Waive off farm loans once and for all for all farmers. Implement the Swaminathan commission recommendation of C2+50 (Cost of cultivation plus 50 per cent) as Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops and we will never ever make an appeal for loan waiver again," Chandrashekhar said.
The union's statement comes two days after a video of Siddaramaiah expressing disapproval of the proposed farm loan waiver as well as a fresh budget went viral. Wednesday's appeal by farmer union seemed like a direct attack on Siddaramaiah for not supporting the waiver and a reminder to the coalition government that Kumaraswamy's promise on waiver will not be forgotten.
"If the waiver isn't announced, farmers' union for the first time, will make political decisions on who to vote and who to reject in the 2019 polls," Chandrashekhar said.