AMN / Raipur
Like his Madhya Pradesh counterpart, within hours of being sworn-in as Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Bhupesh Baghel on Monday announced to waive off farm loans amounting to Rs 6,100 crore.
The new government has also decided to raise minimum support price of paddy to Rs 2,500 per quintal.
The Chief Minister presided over a cabinet meeting and decided to waive off farm loans which would benefit 16.65 lakh farmers reeling under debt.
The farm loan waiver was a major promise of the Congress during the Assembly election campaign that helped the party bag 68 seats in a 90-member House.
The farm loan waiver announcement has been widely hailed by farmers’ representative bodies.
Addressing the maiden press conference as Chief Minister, Baghel briefed media persons about the cabinet decisions and said he decided to form an SIT to unravel conspiracy behind Jheeram valley massacre in May 2013 in Bastar in which several Congress leaders were killed by Maoists including then state Congress chief Nandkumar Patel, veteran leader V.C. Shukla and tribal leader Mahendra Karma.
Soon after assuming office Kamal Nath waives off farm loans
AMN / Bhopal
Soon after assuming office of the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath gave the order of waiving off farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh as promised by Congress president Rahul Gandhi ahead of assembly polls.
After Nath signed the relevant file, Rajesh Rajora, Principal Secretary, Farmers’ Welfare and Agriculture Development Department, issued an order in this regard.
The order stated, “Madhya Pradesh Government has taken a decision to write off short-term crop loan of eligible farmers up to the limit of Rs two lakh, as on March 31, 2018, from nationalised and cooperative banks.” Addressing a public rally on June 7 at Pipliya Mandi in Mandsaur district, Gandhi had announced his party would waive farm loans within 10 days of coming to power in the state.
“Here Kamal Nath (MP Congress president) and Jyotiraditya Scindia (the state Congress poll campaign committee chairman) are sitting. The day the Congress comes to power in MP, count 10 days, I say with guarantee that farmer loans will be waived within 10 days. It won’t take even the eleventh day,” Gandhi had said at the rally.
Later, this announcement was included in the Congress manifesto, titled Rs.Vachan Patra’.
The Congress president had reiterated the farm loan waiver promise repeatedly during the campaigning for the November 28 assembly elections.
Soon after Nath signed the file, Gandhi tweeted: CM, Madhya Pradesh, waives farm loans. 1 done. 2 to go.
Six farmers were killed in police firing at Pipliya Mandi during an agitation in June last year.
The Congress won 114 assembly seats and secured the support of seven more MLAs – SP (1) and BSP (2) and four independents – to cross the majority mark of 116 in the 230- member Assembly.