The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Madurai News : Govt. urged to waive crop loans

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Monday, Jul 26, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Madurai

Govt. urged to waive crop loans

By Our Staff Reporter

MADURAI, JULY 25. The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh has urged the State Government to waive crop loans in view of the drought.

A resolution adopted at a meeting of the executive committee held here recently said farmers incurred heavy loses as the monsoon failed for three years. Some who raised crops with loans provided by banks too incurred losses, as the crops withered. Hence, the farmers found it difficult to have even a square meal a day. So, the loans along with interest should be waived.

Once the situation improved, it said, the Central and State Governments should provide fresh loans to the farmers to raise new crops. The distraint proceedings initiated against farmers for recovery of loans should be postponed for two years. The Land Development Banks and the cooperative societies should provide financial assistance to the farmers, including those who were still repaying the loans, to raise new crops, another resolution said.

The Sangh decided to move the Supreme Court, seeking a directive to the Centre to link all rivers in the country, for the benefit of the farm sector.

Yet another resolution urged the State Government to provide power connections to farmers. All pending applications, it said, should be cleared immediately.

The Government should hand over lakes, ponds, tanks and other water sources controlled by the Public Works Department to the local bodies, and charge farmers or their representatives with their maintenance. The meeting also demanded that the Janata Insurance Scheme be implemented to cover all farmers and farm labourers, pension given to farmers aged 50, the cooperative sugar mills asked to share with farmers the profits they made by making ethanol, drought relief given to farmers, steps taken to improve water sources in the Cauvery delta region and subsidy given for gobar gas and bio-fertiliser production.

The following were elected office-bearers: T. Perumal (president); Govindaraj, Ramamurthy and Anusuya (deputy presidents); M. P. Ayyakannu (general secretary); Ramalakshman Narayanan, Anantharamakrishnan and R. Chandrasekar (secretaries); and S. Rathinasabapathy (treasurer).

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