Karnataka order on Rs 49,000 cr farm loan waiver soon
Bengaluru, July 30 : Karnataka will soon issue an official order with guidelines to waive off agricultural loans worth Rs 49,000 crore, giving relief to distressed farmers across the state, said an official statement on Monday.
"An official order on guidelines will be issued soon to waive agricultural loans to the tune of Rs 49,000 crore," said the statement from the Chief Minister's Office.
Earlier, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has directed Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Zilla Parishads (local bodies) in all the 30 districts across the state to implement the waiver scheme transparently.
"The Chief Minister has cautioned the DCs and CEOs on the role of middlemen who try to misuse the waiver scheme and misguide the farmers," added the statement.
Addressing a two-day conference of DCs and CEOs from all the districts here, Kumaraswamy directed them to redress public grievances, visit talukas (local bodies) and clear the files at the earliest.
Though the Chief Minister first announced Rs 34,000 crore crop loan waiver from the state's co-operative banks in the state budget on July 5, the relief was subsequently extended to farmers who raised loans from state-run banks as well.
Total loans amounting to Rs 49,000 crore to be waived include about Rs 38,000 crore crop loans granted to the farmers by state-owned banks and about Rs 9,500 crore of current loans.
The Chief Minister advised the district officials to provide skill development training to unemployed youth.
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Two women died, 6 taken ill after ‘consuming’ mango kernel gruel in Odisha
Bhubaneswar/Berhampur/Phulbani, Nov 1: At least two tribal women died and six others fell ill after allegedly consuming mango kernel gruel in Odisha's Kandhamal district, police said on Friday.
Consumption of mango kernel, prepared by boiling the seeds in water, was reported from Mandipanka village in the district's Daringbadi block, an officer said.
While one of the two women (Rasmita Pattamajhi aged 22) died on Thursday night at Mohana community health centre in Gajapati district where she was undergoing treatment after "consuming the gruel", another woman (Runu Majhi aged 29) breathed her last while being taken to MKCG Medical College Hospital in Berhampur, Gadapur sarpanch Kumari Mallick said.
Six others, who fell ill after allegedly consuming the gruel, were admitted to a hospital and their condition was critical, said Dr Subrat Das, a medical officer of the health facility.
"All the six have been admitted to the hospital in a serious condition. We suspected that they fell sick due to food poisoning. The exact cause of the illness will be ascertained after completion of the investigation," he added.
The six were identified as Pravati Patmajhi, Dranglu Patmajhi, Tuni Majhi, Susama Patmajhi, Jita Majhi and Jibanti Majhi, Daringbadi BDO Pritiranjan Ratha said.
Meanwhile, the Odisha government has rejected allegations that tribal people have been consuming mango kernel gruel due to a lack of access to rice under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Rasmita's husband Anil Pattamajhi alleged that they were denied rice under PDS for the last three months because of which his wife consumed mango kernel.
However, Kandhamal district magistrate-cum-collector Amrit Ruturaj dismissed the allegations, saying the family received rice according to PDS norms. "We are awaiting the postmortem report to determine the facts," the collector added.
Deputy chief minister Pravati Parida, who is also in-charge of the women and child development department said, "It is not a case of malnutrition. Mango kernel is part of their (tribal) regular diet. Sometime, the mango kernels get contaminated and lead to such unfortunate incidents. We have been actively spreading awareness about the risks of food contamination."
Health and family welfare minister Mukesh Mahaling, who ordered a departmental inquiry into the death of two tribal women, said a team from the district headquarters hospital and another local team are at the spot to assess the situation and conduct a detailed probe into the incident.
Mahaling said that the government was waiting for the postmortem report for a confirmation on the cause of the deaths. "People in Kandhamal consume mango kernel. It is common in that region and there also have been reports of health complications linked to it in the past," he said.
The Kandhmal incident reminds a similar tragedy involving mango kernel deaths in Kashipur block of Rayagada district, where at least 20 people died in 2001, and two more succumbed to mango kernel consumption in 2016. Additionally, mango kernel has claimed lives in Laxmipur in Koraput district in 2012 and 2013, as well as in Jharigaon in Nabarangpur district in 2018.
