Provide adequate funds to banks for loan waiver of 86 lakh farmers: Adityanath

In an apparent bid to pre-empt a Mandsaur-like protest in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today ordered that adequate funds be provided to banks for the loan waiver of 86 lakh farmers soon after the passage of the budget.

The funds in proportion to the amount of loan waiver should be provided to banks soon after the passage of budget for 2017-2018 fiscal and certificates of waiver should be distributed among 86 lakh beneficiaries, he told a high-level meeting for implementing waiver scheme for small and marginal farmers.

"As per the constitutional provisions, the scheme of crop loan waiver for farmers should be implemented by getting the budget passed," he said.

"All the banks need to be clearly told not to issue any notice to beneficiaries of this scheme till the passage of the budget," the chief minister said.

His directions come against the backdrop of farmers agitation in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra with potato and sugarcane growers in Uttar Pradesh keeping a close watch on the developments before embarking on a protest on similar issues.

For facilitating waiver of loans, he suggested setting up committees led by respective DMs for effective implementation of the scheme at the district level.

As per its election promise, the Uttar Pradesh government in its first cabinet meeting had decided to waive crop loans up to Rs one lakh of small and marginal farmers till March 31, 2016, with the total amount adding up to Rs 36,000 crore.