Strict action if irregularities found in farm loan waiver: Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday said stringent action would be taken, if any irregularities are found in the Rs. 52,000-crore farm loan waiver scheme of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.  

"If irregularities are found, we will take stringent action," Manmohan Singh told Rajya Sabha.

There was uproar in both houses of parliament as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other parties raised the issue Wednesday.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report tabled in Parliament Tuesday on the Implementation of Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008 said there were irregularities in at least one in five cases.

Singh's government had announced a debt waiver for farmers across the country in 2008, a move that analysts say helped the government win the 2009 general election