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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday, August 17, announced an increase in the maximum crop loan waiver for farmers from the proposed Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000, on the day his government completed 100 days in office.
The revised waiver, announced in the Assembly under Rule 110, means that crop loans of up to Rs 75,000 taken from cooperative banks will be waived in full.
Farmers who have taken loans between Rs 75,000 and Rs 1 lakh will be eligible for a waiver of up to Rs 75,000. Under the earlier scheme, farmers who had taken crop loans above Rs 75,000 were eligible for a waiver of up to Rs 35,000 only.
With the latest decision, eligible farmers who had already received the earlier Rs 35,000 waiver can now receive an additional amount of up to Rs 40,000, taking their total waiver to Rs 75,000.
The additional benefit will cover 2.38 lakh farmers and entail an additional expenditure of Rs 953.06 crore for the government.
Those with loans exceeding Rs 1 lakh will continue to receive a maximum waiver of Rs 35,000.
CM Vijay said the government had already cleared crop loans worth Rs 5,267 crore for 13.34 lakh farmers as of July 31, against an estimated amount of Rs 5,932.23 crore.
“Considering that our welfare lies in the welfare of the farmers of Tamil Nadu, this government is providing a total crop loan waiver of Rs 6,220 crore to approximately 13.34 lakh farmers,” Vijay said.
The Chief Minister said the revised decision followed representations from farmers’ associations and demands for an enhanced waiver.
He also referred to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directive issued on November 28 last year, under which the government was required to settle the entire amount with cooperative banks within 45 to 60 days.
Vijay contrasted this with the crop loan waiver announced by the earlier government in 2021, saying the amount under that scheme was repaid in 12 instalments by successive All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) governments.
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) president Anbumani Ramadoss however expressed that the additional waiver was inadequate. He said the government was adding only around Rs 900 crore to the earlier Rs 5,900 crore waiver.
He demanded a complete waiver of cooperative bank loans for farmers owning up to five acres and a 50% waiver for those owning between five and 10 acres.