Karnataka: Will waive off farm loans in 24 hrs if elected, says HD Kumaraswamy
Belagavi: In his continued attempt to woo voters in north Karnataka region, state Janata Dal (Secular) president H.D. Kumaraswamy declared in Belagavi on Friday that he would waive off farmers’ loans within 24 hours if his party comes to power after the next year’s Assembly elections.
Objecting to the waiver of Rs 13 lakh crore loans and taxes for industrialists and top businessmen in the country, he questioned the Central and state governments as to what prevented them from writing off loans of farmers, as they are facing tough times because of three years of drought. Addressing a gathering at Mudalgi, near Belagavi, he said that farmers in the state have suffered losses of around Rs 65,000 crore because of drought.
“The state government says that the Centre has not released funds to tackle drought, while the Centre claims it has. Caught between the two are the poor farmers, and 1,500 of them have already committed suicide unable to cope with the crisis. The families of these farmers too have not been compensated,” he said.
A large number of farmers growing sugarcane and horticulture crops, like grapes and pomegranate, are in dire straits without suitable support price for their produce.The state government has failed to resolve the sugarcane crisis even as factories cheated cane growers without making prompt payments, he said.
“The state government has taken Rs 1.30 lakh crore loans in the last four years and has burdened the state exchequer. It has to dip into public money to repay these loans,” he alleged.
“The people may have punished me for not transferring power to the BJP when BJP-JD(S) government was in power. But you have seen how both the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party ruled the state after that. I appeal to you to give me another chance this time,” he said.
Highlighting the major works Mr Kumaraswamy carried out in Belagavi during his tenure as chief minister, former minister Basavaraj Horatti said that 113 high schools and 56 pre-university colleges were opened and 48,300 teachers were appointed. Rs 398 crore aid was given to schools during the JD(S) rule in the state, he claimed.
