BJP’s defeat in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh has largely been attributed to failure of the Modi Government to address rural distress, and Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s effective communication of the poll promises, aimed towards alleviating farmer problems.
With farmer issues taking center stage as the general election approach, the Modi Government is on the backfoot, and as expected, has resorted to lies and distortions instead of addressing the core issue.
Addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh, PM Modi mocked Karnataka’s Farm Loan Waiver scheme calling it a ‘cruel joke’. He took a jibe at the Congress-JDS Govt in Karnataka and claimed that only 800 farmers have benefited from the farm loan waiver.
Modi’s claim is an outright lie. One can only laugh at his lack of knowledge, as Karnataka has implemented the most transparent system of waiver that ensures deserving farmers get benefited.
Mr. Modi, allow me to explain why Karnataka’s Crop Loan Waiver system is the best:
- Congress-JDS govt announced a loan waiver of up to ₹2 lakh per family in July 2018.
Thereafter, the Government decided to come up with a ‘Crop Loan Waiver’ software which verifies all necessary documents and ensures eligible farmers get the outstanding loan amount directly transferred to their bank account via National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI).
- The procedure requires farmers to submit the following documents:
1) Ration Card
2) Aadhaar and
3) Land survey number
The Crop Loan Waiver software will match Aadhaar data with UIDAI, Ration Card with Food Department data, and verify land record details via Bhoomi portal. A comprehensive database of farmers linking them to their loans and land details is built.
- The software weeds out duplication of members of the same family by establishing a family tree – it recognizes loans of a person and that of members of the same family across banks.
- This helps in establishing an eligible farmer list – aptly called the ‘green list’, significantly reducing manual interference, and keeping in check malpractices by officials and middlemen.
- Shared data on farm loans from banks is fed into the software. This is verified against the documents submitted by the farmers. The farmers of Karnataka are presently visiting their local bank branches to submit the necessary documents.
- So far, out of the 22 lakh+ accounts, 7 lakh have submitted their details. Process of verification is already going on at a rapid pace & will cover 21+ lakh farmers spanning 6000 bank branches
- Verified farmers are then handed ‘Runa Mukta Patra’ (Loan Clearance Certificate), indicating their loan is cleared. On 31st of December, one lakh farmers will get paid.
- The Loan waiver is expected to cost Rs. 20,000+ crore. With this scheme, Karnataka govt is ensuring that every penny of tax payers money is reaching eligible poor farmers, who dream of being free of debts.
- As shown in the below table, as of 29th Dec, nearly 60,000 farmers have got waiver and the numbers are multiplying by the day. The process is expected to complete within a month’s time. This exposes PM Modi’s lies about only 800 getting benefited.
- The funny thing is that while Modi goes around mocking, his Government has approached Karnataka to enquire about the loan waiver system that’s set in motion here.
As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so we in Karnataka will take it as a compliment. 🙂
P.S: We acknowledge the immense contribution of IAS officer Munish Moudgil, the Commissioner of Survey, Settlement and Land Records, in coming up with a fool proof method of Crop Loan Waiver using technology.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NEWSD and NEWSD does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
