The Government of Uttar Pradesh has waived crop loans / agriculture loans of farmers to a worth of Rs. 36000 crore. The decision will benefit around 86 lakh small and marginal farmers of Uttar Pradesh. The decision is followed by the promise of BJP’s election manifesto in the recent assembly elections – 2017.
According to the decision, farm loans of up to Rs 1 lakh taken by small and marginal farmers, with land holdings of less than five acres until March 31, 2016, would be waived.
The UP cabinet has also decided to declare loans worth Rs 5,630 crore given by banks to the state’s 7 lakh farmers as non – performing assets, thus writing these off along with crop loans. Around 2.15 crore farmers in the state who have land holdings of one to five acres will be eligible to benefit from this decision. Out of these, 86.68 lakhs farmers have taken crop loans from banks.
Under the crop loan waiver scheme, any farmer who has taken loan for pesticides, wheat, paddy, fertilizer and seeds would benefit. The government will form an 8 member committee under chief secretary Rahul Bhatnagar to prepare the crop loan waiver scheme.