Haryana Congress on Thursday slammed the BJP Government led by Chief Minister Manohar lal, for recovering loans from more than 22 per cent of the farmers who lost their crops to unseasonal rain and hailstorms in March without factoring in the concessions announced by the Government.
Kiran Choudhry, leader of the Haryana Congress legislature Party (ClP), in a statement issued here demanded that banks should be directed to do what they had been told and reschedule the loans.
The rescheduling or repayment of loans taken by farmers from most banks in Haryana has failed to meet the target set by the CM with much fanfare four months ago. About 22.87 lakh farmers had taken loans from various banks, said the former Excise and Taxation Minister.
In the wake of the extensive damage to the crops, banks were told to convert crop loans into short-term loans to the extent of the damage as assessed by the State Government with interest due up to March 31, 2015. The moratorium was given for one year with repayment of loan dependent on the capacity of the borrower and the limit of consumption loan was doubled to Rs20,000, said she. Available data shows that out of the 23,964 eligible accounts, with a loan of Rs520 crore, only 18,700 have been restructured. The remaining are being asked to repay the loans as per original terms.
She added, “This shows total lack of concern and apathy of the BJP Government towards the farmers whose cup of woes has brimmed over after the BJP Government assumed office in Haryana. Instead of helping the poor and distressed farmers, the Khattar Government seems to be working to their detriment,” Choudhry said.
It has failed to fulfill any of the promises made to the farmers in the run-up to the polls, she alleged.
Giving a lowdown on how the farmers have suffered under the BJP rule, she said that they had suffered huge losses due to the unseasonal rain and hailstorms even as the Government looked the other way.