Dharwad: Hasiru Sene leader Gangadhar Patil Kulkarni has said that the state government’s decision to waive off farm loans will be of little help for the farmers in distress.
Speaking to reporters here, Kulkarni said that the government should have announced total loan waiver, but now its decision to limit it to Rs 50,000 taken from co-operative societies will not help farmers in a big way.
“Farmers of the region have witnessed severe drought in the last four years. They have borrowed loans to buy seeds and fertilisers following good rainfall predictions from meteorology department. However, unfortunately, the district has not received good rains in the last one month and hence, another drought is likely on the cards,” he said.
The situation in the rural areas is worrisome as the farmers in distress are selling their belongings to lead their life. They are unable to repay loan amount. Siddaramaiah’s loan waiver scheme is just a gimmick to shut the mouths of the opposition party leaders demanding loan waiver, he termed.
Taking exception to Finance Minister Arun Jaitely’s reaction that if the union government waives off crop loan, the GDP will come down crashing by 2 percent, Kulkarni said Jaitley is not keen on protecting the lives of farmers. While asking both centre and state governments to come to the rescue of farmers, he warned off intensifying agitation, if they failed to do so.
