No gimmick of loan waiver for farmers in interim budget: Modi

Team Udayavani, Feb 3, 2019, 3:54 AM IST

Durgapur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday said his government, in its interim budget, did not resort to the Congress’ “gimmick” of loan waiver as it will not help poor farmers, and instead assured Rs 6,000 per year permanently.

No previous governments have made such a huge assistance scheme for farmers post-Independence, Modi claimed at a BJP rally here.

The prime minister’s Kishan Samman Nidhi Yojana will provide Rs 6,000 to over 12 crore farmers with small holdings by transferring the fund every year in their bank accounts, he said.

“This means that there will be an expenditure of Rs 75,000 crore every year for this scheme,” he said, adding that the government is trying to commence transfer of the first tranche of the assistance to the farmers’ accounts as soon as possible.

He said the scheme will provide succour to the poor farmers who have never got the benefits of loan waiver.

Modi said with such a huge expenditure, his government could have also made a “great noise” over loan waiver like the Congress had done before the 2008-09 general elections.

“But our intent and policy are clean, which is why we have brought a permanent scheme for the farmers,” he said.

Hitting out at the Congress, Modi said, “In the Congress’ mathematics, the gimmick of loan waiver comes in every 10 years.” 

The party had 10 years ago claimed to have given loan waiver of Rs 52,000 crore and now is again talking of loan waiver, he said.

Modi said the BJP government has now brought a scheme that will give Rs 7.5 lakh crore to the farmers in the next 10 years.

The Congress’ scheme of loan waiver used to go to two to three crore farmers with large holdings, while the one by the BJP-headed government will reach out to 12 crore farmers, he said.

Under the Congress’ scheme, poor farmers got waivers of Rs 10 to 15, while lakhs of rupees of those who were not farmers at all were waived, he said.

The prime minister said the interim budget placed before Parliament Friday has provided great relief to the middle income group and indicated that more projects and schemes will be announced in the full budget.

This (interim budget) is just a trailer since it was the interim budget. The full budget after the Lok Sabha polls will pave the way for a new India, he said.

Hailing the interim budget as “progressive” and “pro-development”, Modi said it has ensured that the middle class people have more money to expend since no tax will have to be paid for income of up to Rs five lakh.

The prime minister also credited his government for keeping inflation to around four per cent from around 10 per cent previously.

He said the pension scheme for the unorganised sector announced in the interim budget will help crores of people and help them lead a decent life in their old age.