BHUBANESWAR: With pressure mounting on the State Government from Opposition and farmers’ organisations for waiver of farm loans and hike in minimum support price (MSP) of paddy, the ruling BJD may make a big announcement on the twin issues in the New Year.
If Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy’s ‘wait and watch’ statement on Tuesday to the media on farm loan waiver is any indication, the State Government is seriously contemplating to provide a major relief to the distressed farmers.
“The Government is evaluating the pros and cons of farm loan waiver. The Chief Minister may take a decision on the issue anytime after January 8 rally of BJD in New Delhi,” a senior BJD leader said.
Sources said the Government is working out financial implications on the State exchequer in the event of taking a call on loan waiver or providing higher MSP to farmers as announced by Chhattisgarh Government.
The Finance department has reportedly sought a detailed report on agricultural loans outstanding till March 31, 2018 from the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) and Odisha State Cooperative Bank (OSCB). According to a rough estimate, the cumulative loan outstanding on farmers till the end of 2017-18 financial year will be over Rs 26,000 crore.
More than 54.24 lakh farmers of Odisha will stand to benefit from the loan waiver if the State Government decides to provide relief for falling prices of farm produce including vegetables and recurring natural calamities.
“Farm loan waiver up to Rs 50,000 per loanee farmer will put a financial burden of over Rs 26,000 crore (covering all banks) on the State coffers while the amount will be about Rs 15,000 crore for cooperative banks only,” sources in Cooperation department said.
The department is working on the provisional fund requirement for loan waiver at different slabs. The State Government has to decide a cap on the waiver amount and the beneficiaries (all loanees or non-defaulters only).
Though Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been resisting the idea of farm loan waiver for a long time, he is not averse to it provided the support comes from the Centre.
Writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi a couple of months back, the Chief Minister had suggested setting up of a Credit Guarantee Trust for Agriculture (CGTA) on the lines of Credit Guarantee Trust for Small and Medium Enterprises (CGTSME) to address the problems of farmers.