The Hindu : Gowda moots farmers debt relief fund

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Wednesday, Sep 03, 2003

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Gowda moots farmers debt relief fund

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI SEPT. 2. Concerned over the spate of suicides by farmers' specially in Karnataka, the former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, has urged the Centre to set up a farmers debt relief and welfare fund with a corpus of Rs. 200 crores and suggested that the amount be raised with equal contribution by both the Centre and the State Government.

Criticising the S.M. Krishna Government for its "negligent attitude'' towards the farmers, Mr. Gowda told presspersons here today that during the last fortnight more than 60 farmers in Karnataka had committed suicide.

He said farmers in the State were in distress and charged that the Congress Government there had done little to address their problem.

He also accused the Government of apathy towards the families of the farmers who had committed suicide. "Neither the Chief Minister nor any of his Ministers have bothered to visit the bereaved families."

Mr. Gowda, who met the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, last evening, said the latter sought to know why the rate of suicide by farmers was on the rise in Karnataka when it had come down in other parts of the country.

In a memorandum to the Prime Minister, Mr. Gowda made other suggestions, including permitting all Karnataka MPs to contribute Rs.10 lakh from the MPLADs fund, to provide immediate relief to the families of the farmers who have committed suicide.

He said more than 400 families had been affected on account of suicides.

Referring to the latest report of the parliamentary standing committee on agriculture, Mr. Gowda said the Government should accept and implement all the unanimous recommendations made by the panel.

He said that three of those suggesting a waiver of interest on loans would ensure that the banks lent the earmarked 18 per cent of funds to the farm sector and revitalise cooperative sector banks.

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