ગુજરાતી
English
Gandhinagar, 4 May 2021
According to the Agricultural Statistics Report 2017 of the Central Government’s Department of Agriculture, 43 per cent of farmer families in Gujarat were given loans. Out of 58 lakh households in the villages, 67 lakh households are engaged in agriculture.
Out of 40 lakh farmer families, 16.74 lakh families were in debt of Rs 55,000 crore. Of this, 34,000 crore rupees were loans for agricultural crops.
Of this, Rs 20,000 crore was owed to 5.43 lakh farmers in the form of loans for agricultural work. Which increased the debt by 50 per cent in a single year.
Bharat Singh R Zala of Kisan Sangharsh Manch said that over the years, farmers in the state have become indebted due to crop failure due to natural calamities, not getting full value of produce or not paying crop insurance in full.
The Supreme Court of the country said that the Gujarat government should eliminate the debt and give timely and full compensation to the farmers where the crop fails. However, the government has never eliminated the debt of farmers in Gujarat.
The deadline for repayment of crop mortgage loan till August last year till 2020 was for interest waiver. This time too, it is being extended till June.
This decision of the government is not going to benefit the farmers. The government should waive crop loans with immediate effect. All loans up to 2 lakh rupees to all farmers should be forgiven by May.
Since 2016, all states in the country have abolished debt. Rupani did not.
The surcharge deducted by banks every year should be stopped.
Bharat Singh R Zala of Kisan Palan Manch said this. The state government has stopped crop insurance and it should be reintroduced.
