UP makes mockery of farm loan waiver

• In the run up to the assembly polls, during Mar 2017, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised that if BJP is voted to power in the state, loan waivers will be the top priority at the first cabinet meet. The promise turned out to be effective and got votes for the BJP. However, to avoid making it seem like they had failed the voters, the Adityanath-led government delayed the first cabinet meeting to put off any decision on loan waivers. Later, the Centre refused to offer money, which forced the government to use state's own resources.
• In its first cabinet meeting in April 2017, the UP state government announced that under the farm loan waiver scheme, crop loans up to Rs 1 lakh will be waived off for small and marginal farmers. However, as cabinet ministers ceremoniously distributed loan waiver certificates to farmers across districts, it turns out that many of the beneficiary farmers have received waivers of amounts as petty as Re 1 or Rs 1.50 for over 17,260 farmers.
• One of the more predictable outcomes of the massive farm loan waivers is, while they are a solution to relieving rural distress in the short-term, they also result in a reduction of capital expenditure on agriculture and allied activities, rural development, irrigation and flood control by an average nearly 30%. Cut in capital expenditure in productive areas likely to act as a drag on growth for such states.
• UP’s expensive farm loan waiver has forced the Adityanath-ruled state to cut back on revenue and capital expenditure in key areas like energy, transportation, social welfare and nutrition.

Modi never walks the talk. He is worse than Congress in this aspect. During UP elections, his announcement of farm loan waiver made all the UP farmers believe that everyone will get farm loan waiver. After winning, centre backed out of its commitment and state was to shoulder the burden the loan waiver expenses. Citing resources constraint the farm loan waiver was limited to Rs. 1 lakh for small and marginalized farmers only and even that turned out to be mockery and farce. As usual Modi never touches this embarrassing item again in his life. Rules must be modified to instantly dislodge PM, CMs & Ministers from their positions and debarring them from public positions for next five years for failing on publicly made promises.