The Uttar Pradesh Government will make distribution of certificates of loan waiver scheme a grand function as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will start distribution of these certificates to farmers in a function to be held in state capital on August 17.
It is estimated that around 9,500 farmers would receive the crop loan waiver certificates from the Chief Minister. However, the scheme would be launched in the districts from first week of September when minister in-charge will start distribution of certificates, a source said.
Officials said in the first phase the farmers who have Aadhar cards would be given the benefit while in the second phase those farmers will get benefit who does not have Aadhar card but there is no dispute on their farm land and the third and last phase would be for those, who have dispute over their lands.
“The launching of the distribution of certificates in lucknow on August 17 would be made to only those 9,500 farmers who have linked their Aadhar numbers with their banks,” the official said.
The farmers would not get money but the waiver amount would be directly transferred to their bank for necessary action.
The UP government has already set up committee in all the 75 districts of the state headed by district magistrate to select the eligible farmers who are entitled for loan waiver benefit. Around 86 lakh farmers in UP are expected to receive the benefit whose loan of up to Rs 1 lakh would be waived of. The state government has already made a provision of Rs 34,000 crore in the budget for the loan waiver, though earlier they had claimed that it would require Rs 36,000 for the scheme.
Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi said the Aadhaar number of the farmers will be verified before giving them the benefit. Adhar card is the main base to identify a genuine farmer. This will also help us to weed out bogus applicants, he said.
“The loan waiver is a meticulous scheme of Yogi Government. The farm loan waiver was one of the biggest poll promises of BJP during the UP assembly elections, and it is the biggest so far by any state. In fact it is more than half the size of the loan waiver, announced by UPA-1 government in 2008 for whole of India,” he said adding that many other states followed UP but the volume of waiver is not that much..
The Yogi government on its first cabinet meeting held on April 4 after coming to power on March 19 announced the loan waiver scheme for the farmers. Government announced crop loan waiver scheme up to Rs 1 lakh. It also clarified that farm loans will not be included in this waiver scheme.