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Sonia hints at more relief to farmers

Sonia Gandhi

OSMANABAD/SANGLI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday indicated that the Rs. 60,000-crore farm loan waiver scheme could get bigger as she pitched for raising the land ceiling cap for extending the benefits to more farmers.

Farmers in regions such as Vidarbha and Marathwada have larger land holdings and due to scanty rainfall and “we feel the benefits must be extended to them,” Ms. Gandhi said addressing two farmers’ rallies in Osmanabad and Sangli towns of Maharashtra.

“This issue [of extending the benefits] was raised in Parliament by some MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, and I hope that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will take the appropriate steps,” she said.

Later, addressing another rally of farmers in Sangli, Ms. Gandhi said: “I assure you that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will certainly take necessary steps to meet the expectations of farmers.”

Addressing a thanksgiving rally of farmers organised by the Congress to mark the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s decision to waive loans of farmers owning up to five acres of land, Ms. Gandhi said she was aware that a large number of farmers in many parts, including Marathwada and Vidarbha in Maharashtra, were unable to get benefit of the waiver due to the land ownership limit. — PTI

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