On Thursday, the Union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu said that loan waiver has become a trend now and should be waived in extreme situations only.
Speaking at India’s largest municipal bond programme in Mumbai, Naidu said, “Loan waiver has become fashion now. It should be waived but in extreme situations only. It’s not a final solution. You have to take care of systems. The farmers should be taken care in distress,”
His remarks come in the background of finance minister Arun Jaitley’s remarks on debt waiver for farmers. He said that the Centre will adhere to fiscal targets. Also, on Wednesday, Karnataka government announced it will waive off cooperative bank loans to farmers, becoming the latest state to offer a write-off amid growing farm unrest in the country.
This move was also followed by states such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab. Notably, debt relieves comes after a violent series of protest in Madhya Pradesh and other states which claimed many lives. Addressing the problems of the farmers, in Maharashtra, ruled by the BJP, farmers are clamouring for a bailout after two years of drought and falling commodity prices. In Punjab, known as India’s grain bowl, the Congress won last month’s election partly on the promise of a farm loan waiver. While in South India, farmers dealing with dry weather, the state government was alarmed by a court for a loan waiver to all farmers.
