Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday that the Centre provides sufficient amount of money to the State Governments in the agriculture sector and it is for the States to decide how they utilise the funds.
Jaitley’s statement came in the Rajya Sabha while he was answering discussion on the Appropriation Bills. Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Aggarwal raised the issue of loan waiver for the farmers who sought to know if it for the State Governments to do or the Centre will play a role in it. His query was based on Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh’s statement who had said that the BJP Government in Uttar Pradesh will waive off loans of small and marginal farmers as has been promised in party’s State election manifesto in the recent Assembly polls.
However, Jaitley cautiously steered the question to a different track and without committing anything from the Centre’s side made it clear that it is for the States to take a call on such crucial matters. He, however, clarified that the Centre will not adopt a selective approach by helping one State and not the others.
“This issue (loan waiver) has cropped up in several States. The Centre has its policies for agriculture sector under which we provide interest subvention and other support. We will continue to give all that. If a State has its own resources and want to go ahead in that direction, it will have to find its resources. The situation where the Centre will help one State and not the others will not arise,” Jaitley said.
Meanwhile, during the discussion Jaitley pushed passage of Goods Services Tax (GST) Bill in the ongoing session saying otherwise the States will lose their right to collect indirect taxes after September 15. He added that the Centre is keen to roll out the GST on July 1 and other aspects like bringing petroleum and land under its ambit will be considered after the first year of implementation of the new system of indirect tax collection.