JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday demanded that the state government should waive farm loans in view of severe drought in the state.
“Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has to do it to help the distressed farmers even if he has to cut budgetary allocations to some departments. The government’s plan to buy 3,000 buses for BMTC can wait. Nothing earth-shattering will happen if the buses are not bought this year. The same money should be utilised for loan waiver,” he said.
The government had hiked the VAT rate by 0.5 % to mobilise funds for waiving farm loans in 2013. But it was not subsequently rolled back. The government can use this money for helping the farmers. Moreover, the government has proposed to borrow Rs 37,092 crore in the coming financial year. There is nothing wrong if it borrows another Rs 6,000 crore more for the sake of farmers, he said.
DH News Service
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