Tthen his refers to the article, “Farmer cause real, violence political” (June 13) by Sandhya Jain. Addressing an election rally in the parched Jhajjar district of Haryana in 2004, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee promised to usher in a second green revolution in the country. Referring to Devi lal's loan waiver scheme, he said, he did not “believe in such populist measures”, as they were virtual invitations to default. The solution to farmers’ woes, he argued, lay in making their profession lucrative. Therefore, he promised to bring down interest rate on farming loans gradually to five per cent and ensure ample supply of water to every farmer by fully implementing his Government's scheme for linking all major rivers in the country.
Deviation from this idea was underlined by Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel, who termed farm loan waivers a “moral hazard” and sought consensus to desist from announcing them. Further, expressing her concerns over the repayment culture among the farmers, State Bank of India Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya maintained that support to farmers should not be at the cost of credit discipline. It is, therefore, surprising as to why the Modi Government is encouraging recidivist tendencies among its State Governments, instead of encouraging State investment in infrastructure.