Farm loan waiver weighs on BJD

Bhubaneswar: With the saffron’s debacle in three Hindi heartland states due to farmer issues and the waiver of crop loan by Kamal Nath Monday hours after he took oath, pressure mounted on the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) to address the farmer issues in state on priority.
BJD President and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik admitted that farmer issue is the main reason behind the fall of BJP governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Opposition Congress and the BJP in Odisha have already announced that they will waive farm loan once they form government here.
“The Congress stands strongly with our farmers. MP government’s decision to waive farm loans on Day 1 of taking office is a testimony of the same. When Congress forms government in Odisha, we will do the same,” Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Niranjan Patnaik tweeted.
Earlier, BJP leader and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan had announced to waive all pending crop loans once the party comes to power. Under such circumstances, pressure mounted on the BJD to announce some big sops for the farmers’ community without much delay.
At government-level, an inter-ministerial committee has been formed under the chairmanship of finance minister Sashibhusan Behera while at party-level, the BJD Monday announced to stage protests before Parliament January 8 demanding a hike in the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy.
Speaking to reporters here, Biju Krushak Janata Dal (BKJD) secretary general Pratap Jena said his party leaders and workers will stage a demonstration in front of Parliament in New Delhi January 8, demanding a hike in the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy to Rs 2,930 per quintal as decided by the State Assembly.
According to political analysts here, though economists suggest crop loan waiver is not a healthy practice for economy, the BJD wants to go for it. Sources said the party may announce some big sops for farmers. If the government goes for a crop loan waiver, there will be an additional Rs 20,000 crore burden on the state exchequer.
If the state government goes for a complete waiver, the burden will be over Rs 25,000 crore for all banks and Rs 15,000 crore for cooperative banks.
Similarly, the additional burden on the state exchequer will be around Rs 12,500 crore if the government gives the relief to non-defaulter farmers, they said.