Waive 25% of farm loans, Centre will bear the rest, state told

Come up with long-term measures to tackle drought: Shettar

Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar said in the Assembly on Monday that the state government had failed to take urgent measures to help the drought-affected and farmers. Though 139 taluks have been declared as drought affected, the entire state has been reeling under drought, he said.

Initiating a discussion on the drought situation and drinking water scarcity, Shettar said during situations like drought, the government should also take long-term measures and come up with permanent solutions for drinking water woes. Mere release of funds and formation of a task force were not sufficient.

Some villages regularly feature in the list of drought affected, he said. Permanent measures and solutions would free them from the list of villages supplied drinking water through tankers, Shettar said.

‘Situation to aggravate’
Water sources have been drying up and groundwater has been depleting. There is no water for livestock. The situation will aggravate in summer, he said. Shettar said, people have been migrating to neighbouring towns and states in search of jobs as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has not been implemented effectively. The government is not taking action against officials responsible for lapses.

‘No interest in waiver’
He lamented Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s attitude towards waiver of loans. He said if the state agrees to waive  25% of the loans taken by farmers, the Centre is prepared to waive the rest. Shettar said though the state had been asked to write to the Centre in this regard, the chief minister had not shown interest.

Shettar asked the government to extend the deadline for repayment of loans availed by farmers from cooperative sector and convert short-term loans into medium-term and medium-term into long-term loans.

Energy Minister D K Shivakumar demanded solutions to the money crisis as farmers would have to pay 14% interest instead of 3%, if loans taken from cooperative sector are not repaid within the stipulated period. This led to exchanges between the ruling and opposition groups.

Govt reply on Nov 23
The government, on November 23, will reply to the discussion on the drought and drinking water problems. The discussion will continue on Tuesday. Both the Houses will discuss the Mahadayi project on November 23 and 24 and the government would reply on the issue on the evening of November 24, Speaker K B Koliwad said after the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee on Monday.