Underlining negative impact of loan waivers, Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala has said that the Union Government, at present, is not considering any loan waiver scheme for farmers. He further noted that waivers may impact the credit culture of a state by incentivising the defaulters, even if they are in a position to repay the loan, and thus, discourage farmers from paying up their dues.
Besides, the Minister said that each waiver granted makes it even more difficult to reject any future similar demand and further listed the various states including Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka who have announced their own loan waiver schemes in the past. Parshottam Rupala also said that Puducherry announced the agriculture loan waiver covering loans of all agricultural and allied activities availed through the cooperative structure.
In a relief to the farmers, Tamil Nadu government waived off loans amounting to Rs 5,318 crore, while Maharashtra's debt waiver of Rs 30,500 crore benefitted 31 lakh farmers. Jammu & Kashmir waived was Rs 244 crore for 1.15 lakh farmers and Chhattisgarh government announced 25% of debt amounting to Rs 129.76 crore for 1,89,379 farmers.