Dr G Parameshwar to Centre: Bring out farm loan waiver policy soon

Bengaluru: Seemingly worried over a section of pro-Kannada organisations calling for a state-wide bandh on Monday when All India Congress Committee vice-president Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit the city, KPCC president, Dr G. Parameshwar has appealed to the Union government to frame a national policy on farm loan waiver.

Speaking to reporters at the Congress office here, Dr Parameshwar said farmers are under  duress not only in Karnataka but across India. This being the case, the Centre must come out with a national policy on farm loan waiver.

Sarcastically referring to the ban on red beacon lights, the KPCC president observed that though the Union government takes decisions in the middle of the night on banning red beacon lights and on demonetisation, it does not care for farmers in dire straits. “I am not against their style, what I pity is their inability to find time to ponder over finding ways to assuage farmers who are in distress with several thousand farmers committing suicide,” he argued. “Let the union government openly state they will not waive farmer loans, each state will then take its call on this issue,” he said.

According to Dr Parameshwar, during the Congress led UPA government’s 10-year rule between 1999-2013, a decision was taken to waive farmer loans to the extent of Rs 72,000 crore whereas the current government was not even talking about this.