KALABURAGI: The Karnataka government will examine a proposal to waive loans availed by farmers from cooperative societies/banks, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in Kalaburagi on Wednesday. Speaking to the media after participating in Kalyana Karnataka Utsava, the CM said that most of the districts of Karnataka have received excess rain this monsoon, and according to initial reports, farmers have suffered heavy crop loss.
“A few organisations have requested the government waive farm loans taken by farmers from cooperative societies/banks. The government would examine the proposal, Siddaramaiah said.
According to informed sources, the Yediyurappa and Kumarswamy governments in the past had waived farm loans to the tune of Rs 8,500 crore.
Waiving farm loans would be done for the individual beneficiaries, and it would not be done taking into consideration the quantum of crop loss. “The government would decide on waiving crop loans only after considering all the pros and cons and the burden on the government if it is implemented,” the sources added.
On crop loss compensation, CM Siddaramaiah said that after the reports of the joint survey by revenue and agriculture departments conducted in districts are submitted to the government, it would give a memorandum to the Union Government requesting to release the compensation.
The CM also denied the allegations made by the Centre that the Karnataka government delayed in submitting the memorandum last year. He recalled that Karnataka approached the Supreme Court to get its share of compensation from the Centre.
Later, the CM visited an agriculture field in Fartabad of Kalaburagi taluk, where farmers suffered heavy loss to the tur crop. Kalaburagi district in-charge minister Priyank Kharge, KKRDB president Dr Ajay Singh, and Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Fouzia Taranum briefed the CM about the crop loss.
Meanwhile, president of Jilla Krishika Samaj Sidramappa Dangapur told the CM that the farmers have cultivated tur three times this season, as there were heavy rains. But all the crops, including tur, green, and black gram, were hit due to rains. He urged the CM to release compensation for crop loss immediately and give subsidies on seeds and fertilizers for the rabi season.
Siddaramaiah told the farmers that as soon as the rain stopped, officials of the revenue, agriculture, and horticulture departments would jointly conduct a final survey, and after the receipt of the joint survey report, the government would take steps for the release of compensation.