Govt urged to waive interest on farm loans

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, JULY 7. Mr. C. Byre Gowda, Janata Dal (United) State unit President and former minister, has urged the State Government to waive interest on all farm loans and permit toddy tapping from coconut trees.

He told presspersons here on Saturday that a large section of farmers were in distress because of various factors such as fall in prices and failure of monsoon. If the Government was serious about helping them, it should waive interest on all farm loans and permit toddy tapping from coconut trees for another four years.

Mr. Byre Gowda, who was concerned about a farmer killing his family and committing suicide in Malur taluk of Kolar District on Thursday, said it was apparent that desperation had prompted the farmer, Krishna Reddy, to take the extreme step. ``It was possibly one of the worst cases in Kolar District in the recent past and people in the region are shocked,'' he said.

Mr. Gowda said the recent announcement by the State Government on the waiver of interest on farm loans was a ``farce.'' The Government should waive simple and penal interests on all farm loans given by cooperative banks, land banks and commercial banks. The Janata Dal Government had waived the interest on farm loans on two occasions and the present Government should do it at least once. Following pressure from the Opposition in this regard in the legislature (during the Governor's address), the Government had assured the House that it would make an announcement in the Budget. There was no mention about this in the Budget, he said.

The Union and State governments were responsible for the distress situation faced by farmers, he said and added: ``We have been telling them time and again to take corrective steps but nothing has been done. Rather than focussing on hitech areas, including information technology, the Government should pay attention to the farm sector on which 70 per cent of the population is dependent.'' A recent study by the Centre had revealed that while the cost of farm inputs increased by 229 per cent between 1989 and 1997, prices of farm produce had risen by 199 per cent. It was obvious that farmers were incurring losses, he added.

Referring to the fall in the prices of coconut and the nusi roga (mite attack), Mr. Byre Gowda said experts, including the head of the Department of Entomology of the University of Agricultural Sciences, had indicated that toddy tapping was the only way to control the menace. Having failed to control mites, the Government had no choice but to permit toddy tapping for a limited period. The Government's proposal to opt for aerial spraying of pesticides would be counter-productive as it would harm environment.

He charged that the Government was yielding to liquor lobby which feared that its market share would be hit if toddy tapping was permitted. The Government should take care of the interests of farmers rather than the liquor lobby. Despite being aware of the ``hapless situation'' of the farmers, the Government was yet to pay for maize procured four months ago as part of the market intervention scheme. The Karnataka State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation, which was the procuring agency for the Food Corporation of India, was yet to pay for over one lakh tonnes of maize. Further, sugar units in the State owed over Rs. 100 crores to cane growers, Mr. Byre Gowda added.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Oh Marica...oh Marica!
Next     : 'Love of human kind is the essence of living'