The Hindu : Election schedule may hit farmers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 12, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mysore

Election schedule may hit farmers

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE, MARCH 11 . Even as political parties are preparing for the elections to the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assembly, the poll schedule is likely to affect farmers who seek loans for agricultural activities.

Small and marginal farmers in Mysore and Chamarajanagar districts, who are banking on farm loans, are worried about the elections on April 20 and 26 clashing with the sowing season.

Farmers, who need loans at least by April 15 to begin sowing in the first week of May, have expressed concern over the administration being out of bounds to them as officials will be deployed on election duty during the crucial period.

"At the time of submitting applications for loans, farmers need copies of their land records, encumbrance certificate, and khata from the Revenue Department. But the staff of the department will be posted for election duty and there will be nobody to serve farmers,'' the Kallambella Gram Panchayat member, Vivek Cariappa, told The Hindu.

They would not be able to submit applications for loans to the banks till the financial year ending March 31. The revenue staff would be available in May when much of sowing would have been completed, Mr. Cariappa said.

Mr. Cariappa, who is an advisory member of the Steering Committee of the Organic Farmers' Association of India, said the situation would force farmers to approach moneylenders, who might increase the interest rates on loans.

He claimed that traders, who purchase farm produce, would act as moneylenders.

They would not only collect more than 100 per cent of the principal amount but also force farmers to sell their produce to them.

"If a trader lends Rs. 300 to a farmer, he deducts Rs. 700 from the amount he owes to the farmer after purchasing his produce,'' Mr. Cariappa said.

The absence of information at agricultural produce marketing committee yards on the prevailing rates of farm commodities in different parts of the State would make farmers vulnerable to cheating by unscrupulous middlemen and traders, Mr. Cariappa said.

Another problem being faced by farmers was the stand of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the State Government on the issue of defaulters. The RBI had issued a direction to banks against sanctioning fresh loans to defaulters.

But the Government had offered a rebate on the interest component of the loan. A farmer, who claimed the rebate on the interest component of the loan, would not be entitled for a fresh loan, Mr. Cariappa said.

Hence, if a farmer wanted a fresh loan, he had to forego the rebate on the interest component and repay the entire loan, he added.

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