Karnataka: With 251 Farmers' Suicides And Agriculture NPA Nearing Rs 19,000 Crore, Demand For Loan Waiver Grows Louder — Congress Clueless

Farmer groups in Karnataka are putting forth a demand — waive their crop loans as a 'contingency' measure.

The pressure has been building on, as the Karnataka Congress government and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah have failed to address the growing demands.

As a result, the drought situation, now spread across over half of Karnataka, has caused a great deal of distress to the farmers in the state. Another demand that the farmers are hoping the Government of Karnataka will address, is the procurement of yield with a support price.

Karnataka's Deputy Chief Minister, D K Shivakumar, in a candid admission, had acknowledged that the Congress government is facing financial constraints this year due to the implementation of the five populist poll guarantees.

As a result, the government would be unable to provide for development at this time.

Even some Congress MLAs have expressed their dissatisfaction and have lodged complaints with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the party leadership over the status quo.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the demands that are constantly building up, is likely to cause a lot of trouble for the Congress party. So far, the Congress has been busy scouting for funds for the five poll promises it seeks to implement.

According to Deccan Herald, the latest banking data in Karnataka suggests that the state has non-performing assets, pertaining to agriculture, amounting to Rs 18,964 crore. This year alone, till September, 251 farmers have died by suicide.

In 2018-19, the JD(S)-Congress coalition government had waived-off crop loans to the tune of Rs 15,597 crore, which benefited 26.83 lakh farmers.

During his first term as Karnataka's Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah took the step of waiving-off of crop loans totaling Rs 8,165 crore for approximately 22.27 lakh farmers.

Kuruburu Shantakumar, who serves as the president of the Karnataka Federation of Farmers’ Associations, has already submitted a formal request to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

He seeks a crop loan waiver in light of the alarming increase in farmer suicides and the severe drought conditions 'affecting all taluks' in the region.

Additionally, he called for the release of crop loss compensation, with a proposed amount of up to Rs 25,000 per hectare, citing the loss of several crops due to insufficient water supply.

Farmer unions in Karnataka have stressed the urgent need for the government to establish a mechanism for setting minimum support prices for farmers' produce, which they believe is essential to prevent more farmers from resorting to suicide.