NELLORE: Terming the Centre's package for farmers in districts, which had witnessed many suicides by them, in Andhra Pradesh and some other States as `a regular budgetary provision', the BJP alleged that it would serve no purpose since it was `too late and too little'.

"The Central Government has misled the farming community by announcing a package. Though the package appears huge, it includes loans from the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for minor irrigation schemes and Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) for medium and major irrigation projects," BJP senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters on Saturday.

National, not notional

"The approved package for Andhra Pradesh is Rs 9,650.55 crore, and includes a waiver of interest on loans to the tune of Rs 1,436.44 crore. Therefore the BJP demands a national package but not a notional one," he said.

Moreover, there is no clarity whether waiver of loans would be applicable either to commercial or cooperative banks or both. And guidelines stipulated that respective States should share half of the interest waived.

"This means, the State Government has to set aside more than Rs 700 crores to waive the loans. But it appears impossible for our State given its precarious fiscal position," he said.

Naidu demanded that the Centre offer loans to farmers at lower interest rates besides implementing crop insurance scheme effectively. Otherwise the BJP would stall the Government on the whole issue in the coming Parliament session.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail