The Hindu : Front Page : Centre to consider State’s demand to absorb farm loans

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Monday, Jun 30, 2008
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Centre to consider State’s demand to absorb farm loans

C. Jaishankar

P. Chidambaram

SIVAGANGA: The Centre will consider Tamil Nadu’s demand to absorb Rs.7,000-crore cooperative farm loans that it had written off, Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said.

Speaking to The Hindu after opening an UCO bank branch at Ariyakudi near Karaikudi on Sunday, he said he had received proposals from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka demanding the Centre to bear the waiver of loans.

“There may be chances of overlap [between the Centre’s scheme and that of the State]. However, I will look into the demand of the State government after the completion of the ongoing debt waiver process,” he said.

On the benefits of Centre’s loan waiver scheme for the farmers of Tamil Nadu, Mr. Chidambaram said loans to the tune of Rs.5,000 crore had been written off. As many as 15 lakh small, marginal and other farmers would benefit in the State.

Lists of beneficiaries

As against the deadline of June 30 for preparing the lists of loan beneficiaries, he received reports that several banks had completed the process and the lists had been displayed on the banks’ premises.

Details such as the original loan amount, the repaid amount, interest and total waiver were displayed.

The Finance Minister said the lists were prepared meticulously to prevent errors. They were checked and super checked by the authorities concerned and were finally cleared by the auditors.

Grievance redress officers were nominated throughout the country. Fresh loans would be given immediately after the process.

Describing the debt waiver was one of the biggest exercises, he said he personally visited several States, including Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Karnataka.

“Target exceeded”

He said loans for the agriculture sector were just Rs.86,000 crore when the United Progressive Alliance government took over the reins.

In his first budget speech, he announced that farm credit would be doubled. But it had been tripled.

The target for the current year was Rs.2.8 lakh crore. He hoped the banks would lend more than Rs.3 lakh crore.

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