Karnataka to waive farm loans worth Rs 10,000 cr
Bengaluru, June 25: Karnataka's JD-S-Congress government would waive farm loans amounting to Rs 10,000 crore, including interest, taken by farmers across the state, said an official on Monday.
"The loans borrowed by the farmers from district cooperative banks and state cooperatives will be waived along with interest on them, costing the exchequer about Rs 10,000 crore," a Chief Minister's Office functionary told IANS here.
The decision on the loan waiver was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and attended by Co-operation Minister Bandeppa Khashempur, Agriculture Minister N.H. Shivashankara Reddy and officials of various departments.
"The Chief Minister (who holds the Finance Department) will announce the modalities of the waiver on July 5 when he presents the budget for 2018-19," said the official.
The proposed write-off will be in addition to a similar waiver the previous Congress government declared on June 21, 2017 for over 22 lakh farmers who borrowed crop loans up to Rs 50,000 each from the cooperative banks.
The previous waiver had cost the state exchequer Rs 8,165 crore.
"The loan waiver is aimed at providing relief to lakhs of farmers and their families who have been reeling under debt and crop failure due to droughts across the state over the last couple of years," said the official quoting Kumaraswamy's remarks at the meeting in the state secretariat.
Allaying fears of officials and heads of the cooperative banks on the longevity of the coalition government, the Chief Minister said what the state would do for the people, especially farmers, was more important than how long it lasted.
"It is not how many days or months our government survives but what it does during its rule to the people, including farmers and the poor. All stakeholders, especially officials, leaders of the coalition partners, ministers and legislators should work for the state's development than worry about the government's fate," said Kumaraswamy.
Defending his decision to present a full-fledged state budget than a supplementary one as suggested by former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the Chief Minister said as about 100 new legislators were elected in the May 12 Assembly poll, they could serve a privilege notice against him in the Assembly for implementing the budget of the previous Congress government, as the manifestos and promises made by both the coalition parties were different.
"I don't want a privilege notice or motion against me from the new MLAs in all the parties, including the JD-S, Congress and BJP," said Kumaraswamy.
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Calling political contest ‘vote jihad’ wrong, Hindu society must counter it: Ram temple treasurer
Pune (PTI): Swami Govinddev Giri, the treasurer of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, said on Sunday that it was wrong to describe a political fight as “vote jihad”, asserting that the Hindu society must counter it.
His comments come amid Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s attacks on “vote jihad” and calls to respond to it with ‘dharma-yudh’.
Speaking to reporters here, the Hindu seer said directions about whom to vote were earlier discretely issued from religious places by distributing pamphlets but slogans like ‘vote jihad’ are now being openly given.
The religious leader said 'jihad' is equivalent to ‘dharma-yudh’.
“Calling a fight between two political parties 'yudh' is not right. But since ‘vote jihad’ is being openly advocated, it must be countered by the Hindu society without hesitation,” he said.
Voting is the right and responsibility of good citizens, said the religious leader from Ayodhya Ram temple.
“Being a true Hindu is pro-humanity, and treating everyone equally like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,” he said, adding, “We should tolerate injustice as well.”
Earlier, referring to a purported appeal by an Islamic scholar for “vote jihad” against the BJP-led Mahayuti government, Fadnavis had called for a “dharma-yudh of votes” to counter it.
During a few rallies in Pune ahead of the November 20 assembly polls, Fadnavis had played a video by Islamic scholar Sajjad Nomani and claimed that the slogan of “vote-Jihad” was raised.
It is being said that a person who votes for the BJP must be ostracised, Fadnavis claimed.
“If these people are trying to do vote jihad, if they are saying they will destabilise the government through vote jihad, then you will also have to do dharma-yudh of votes,” Fadnavis had said in a swipe at the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.
