Waiving crop loans won't burden exchequer: BSY

BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa, who has been repeatedly demanding that the state government waive crop loans, on Saturday sought to prove that the move will not burden the state’s exchequer.

Yeddyurappa’s office on Saturday released a ‘fact sheet’ that compares the crop loan waived by the BJP government in 2011-12 with the present financial status before the ruling dispensation.

Yeddyurappa had recently set July 10 as the deadline for Siddaramaiah to waive crop loans. The BJP leader had stated that if loans are not waived, then the party will bring five lakh farmers to Bengaluru to gherao government offices.

According to statistics released by Yeddyurappa’s office, the total crop loans availed by farmers from cooperative institutions during 2017-18 is Rs 10,551 crore. If the government waives half of the loans, then the burden will be Rs 2,250 crore. Compared to the total outlay for the year 2017-18 which is Rs 1.86 lakh crore, the waived amount will be only 2.6% of the budget.

The fact sheet states that the BJP government waived Rs 3,630 crore in 2011-12 at a time when the total budget outlay was Rs 1.17 crore (3.1% of the total budget). “It is only commitment and a kind heart that Siddaramaiah needs to waive loans,” the document states.