Click to play videoThara (Ahmedabad): In what appears to be a bid to draw political mileage, a special note from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accompanies all farm-loan waiver letters.
But this letter is creating resentment among many farmers who find that their debt only been partially waived off.
The prime minister's letter of promise says the debt of all farmers have been written off. But farmers who are eligible for the scheme are wondering why their debt is still pending.
“The PM’s letter says that debt will be completely waived off. However, that is not the case. We have to pay loans in installments, failing which our subsidies will be cancelled,” Parshuram Patekar, a dairy farmer from Thara district, said.
Farmers are now feeling cheated as the scheme becomes clearer to them. Those above the cut-off limit realise that banks are not going to completely write- off their debt. They have to pay 75 per cent of the loan if they want to avail the 25 per cent subsidy.
Consequently, local banks are now flooded with queries regarding the scheme and the bankers are having a hard time clarifying the benefits of the scheme to the farmers.
“Only the amount overdue up to December 31 2007 and unpaid till February 29 2008 has been waived off. The farmers are mistaken that their entire outstanding amount has been written off. We are now trying to explain them the government guidelines,” Brach Manager, Thara, Pradip Mahtre, said.
Clearly the Prime Minister's letter is sending out the wrong signals to the farmers. If it is a strategy to get their votes in the upcoming elections, the move may well back fire for the UPA Government.
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