Funds for crop loan waiver in this budget: Kumaraswamy

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday said he will allot grants to fund the Rs 46,000-crore crop loan waiver scheme in one shot in the February 8 budget.

Earlier, the plan was that the state government will reimburse banks - from where farmers have availed of loans in - four instalments. “We will implement the scheme in one-shot and the financial requirements will be announced in the February 8 budget,” Kumaraswamy stated. It will be the second budget of the coalition government.

Kumaraswamy’s move is seen as a reply to the comments made by the BJP leadership including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been mocking the scheme, saying it had only offered a “lollipop” benefiting only a few farmers.

The chief minister asserted that the crop loan waiver scheme will be implemented without violating the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Kumaraswamy said a dedicated cell had been opened to monitor the implementation of the scheme and it was functioning 24/7.

“The crop loan waiver scheme is a commitment made by our government to farmers and the process has already begun. It is very sad that he (Modi) sees it as a ‘cruel joke on farmers’. He is misleading the people of the nation without obtaining the facts about the scheme”, Kumaraswamy had said recently in a statement.