MP Chief Minister Launches Farm Loan Interest Waiver Scheme, Aims to Aid 11 Lakh Farmers

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, announced the launch of the Mukhyamantri Krishak Byaaj Maafi Yojana-2023 (Chief Minister Farmer Loan Waiver Scheme) on Sunday. The scheme aims to benefit over 11 lakh farmers in the state by waiving off outstanding loans and compensating the defaulter farmers.

Blaming the previous Congress government for the farmers' loan defaults, Chouhan stated that they had deceived farmers by making false promises regarding loan waivers. The Chief Minister highlighted that the previous government had waived only ₹6,000 crores out of the promised ₹48,000 crores in a span of 1.25 years.

Under the scheme, the Madhya Pradesh government will compensate defaulter farmers who have outstanding loans, including the principal and interest, of up to ₹2 lakh as of March 31, 2023, from Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Societies (PACS). The scheme covers short-term crop loans as well as loans that have been converted into medium-term loans due to natural calamities.

Chouhan assured farmers that the state government would pay the interest amount for each defaulter farmer, allowing them to become eligible for the crop loan scheme with 0% interest. A total of ₹2,123 crores in outstanding amounts will be waived off, benefiting approximately 11,19,000 farmers.

However, some voices of scepticism have emerged regarding the scheme. Political analysts and farmer organizations have raised concerns about the implementation and actual reach of the benefits. They emphasized the importance of scrutinizing the fine print of the scheme to assess the number of beneficiaries effectively served. Past experiences have shown that certain caveats and conditions often exclude many intended beneficiaries from such schemes.

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Chandrakant Gour, the State Secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, a farmers' organization linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, pointed out that the benefits of the scheme have been limited to defaulters who borrowed from cooperative banks, excluding those who borrowed from nationalized banks.

With the upcoming Assembly elections in 2023 and the Lok Sabha elections in the following year, the agriculture sector's response to the scheme becomes crucial for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Gour warned that the dissatisfaction among farmers could lead to unexpected results at the polls, citing a demonstration held by farmers in Bhopal last November, where demands were largely unmet.

Source-The Hindu

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