Punjab Government’s expert panel on farm loan waiver, headed by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices’ former head T Haque, will meet the bankers for the first time on Tuesday to seek their suggestions on the debt waiver.
At the same time, the State Finance Minister Manpreet Badal stated that the panel would submit its report on August 17.
The meeting assumes significance as it would come at the time when majority of farmers have stopped repaying their loans, and the banks were refusing further loans to the farmers. Moreover, the Congress led State Government was facing mounting pressure to implement the debt waiver — a “game-changer” poll promise.
The expert panel will meet the representatives of several banks at Chandigarh in connection with the debt waiver issue to seek suggestions regarding the implementation of debt waiver scheme, announced by the Government.
Maintaining that panel would submit the report on August 17, Manpreet said that following this, the debt of as many as 10 lakh farmers will be waived off. “A clearance certificate will be delivered to the farmers at their home within 45 days,” he added while speaking in Bathinda.
After coming to power, the Congress Government had formed an expert group under the chairmanship of
T Haque to assess the quantum of agricultural debt and suggest ways and means for farm debt waiver.
It will be for the first time that banks will hold a meeting with Haque since this panel was formed. An official said that Manpreet Badal may also join the meeting.
Banks too have been asking the State Government to act fast on the implementation of loan waiver in the wake of rising default by growers. They had already stopped fresh lending to growers who were making default in repayments.
Recoveries plummeted by as much as 60 per cent in the State, an official said.
Banks are concerned about the recovery of outstanding loan of Rs 36,000 crore of small and marginal farmers, which they think, is at stake.
Punjab Government has proposed to own up Rs 9,500 crore as loan waiver which was to be settled with banks in four to five years’ time on the basis of interim report by the expert panel, according to officials.
As part of debt waiver plan, Punjab Government had last month announced waiver of entire crop loans up to Rs 2 lakh for small and marginal farmers (up to five acres), and a flat Rs 2 lakh relief for all other marginal farmers, irrespective of their loan amount, which would benefit a total of 10.25 lakh farmers, including 8.75 lakh farmers with land up to five acres.