In what can be called a cruel joke on suffering farmers in Madhya Pradesh, some of them are getting pennies in the name of loan waiver.
In a shocking report coming in from Bhopal, a farmer named Shivpal Kataria, who was expecting a complete farm loan waiver, was shocked to see Rs 13 marked besides his name in the list of beneficiaries released by authorities on Wednesday.
Alleging irregularities in the farm loan waiver scheme announced by the newly-formed Kamal Nath government, the farmer said, “The state government had promised to waive loans up to Rs 2 lakh. Forms were filled and I was expecting a complete waiver of my loan amount of Rs 23,815. But the list that has come to the panchayat says only Rs 13 have been waived.”
Kataria, who is the resident of Nipania Baijnath Village, was really happy when Congress Party came in power which made promises to waive off farmer loans before the assembly polls. He thought the loan waiver announced by the Congress would bring him some relief.
He further said that, “I am an honest farmer. I have been regularly paying my dues. On questioning, the staff said that I did not have a loan on me on the date of the loan waiver. There are major irregularities in the loan waiver scheme. I have reported the matter to the authorities.”
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Reacting to the news, Cabinet Minister Omkar Singh Markam said, “Irregularities which happened at the stage of loan disbursal are now surfacing. We are taking the required action.”
The Congress party, which formed government in the state post recent Assembly elections, had promised in its manifesto to waive farmers’ debts up to Rs 2 lakh. Chief Minister Kamal Nath had also signed the file at his oath-taking ceremony and applications were invited from January 15 to February 5.
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