The Comptroller and Auditor General’s exposé of large-scale bungling in the `52,000 crore farm loan waiver scheme united the Opposition in Parliament on Wednesday, compelling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to promise “stringent action against the defaulters”.
Terming it as a “fraud with farmers”, agitated members forced adjournments and said the irregularities revealed by the CAG were a scam and not merely a case of account fudging.
In an effort to placate the Opposition, the Prime Minister made a suo moto statement in the Rajya Sabha after the BJP raised the issue during Zero Hour.
“This matter should be entrusted to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as per normal practice. If there are any irregularities, I assure the House that we will take stringent action against the defaulters,” Manmohan said.
However, the Opposition was not satisfied with his assurance and several BJP members rushed into the well of the House raising slogans.
Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien tried to restore order by pointing out that the Government had already responded on the issue. However, the Opposition members were in no mood to relent and the Chair had to adjourn the proceedings for 10 minutes.
The BJP made its intentions clear as soon as the House met for the day and Deputy leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad demanded suspension of Question Hour to discuss the issue. Chairman Hamid Ansari asked Prasad to take it up during Zero Hour.
Raising it later, Prasad charged that accounts were tampered with and more than 34 lakh farmers did not receive the benefit of loan waiver, whereas 24 lakh ineligible farmers got the waiver.
He said it was clearly a scam with bank officials siphoning off funds in collusion with middlemen.
Prasad also sought to know the action taken by the Government on the January 15 directive of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to banks, asking them to take immediate steps to recover the money given to ineligible farmers.
The lok Sabha saw a brief impromptu discussion on the issue during which members, cutting across party lines, accused the Government of failing to properly implement the `52,000-crore scheme.
The House saw an hour-long adjournment over the issue after which the Government agreed to have a full-fledged debate on it.
leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj said thousands of actual beneficiaries were denied its benefits, while those who were not eligible got relief. She also demanded that officials of banks and auditors should be questioned and FIRs filed.
She said that “no action was taken” on such a “serious matter” despite the RBI flagging it up in January.
leaders of several parties — including the JD-U, left, SP, BSP, BJD, Shiv Sena, SAD, TDP and JD(S) — said a large number of farmers, reeling under massive debt, were forced to commit suicide across the country as they did not get the benefits of the debt waiver scheme.
Sharad Yadav (JD-U) said: “We knew from day one that banks will create hurdles for farmers on this scheme.”
Rewati Raman Singh (SP) and Dara Singh Chauhan (BSP) sought a thorough probe saying that bank officials and personnel also created “problems and hurdles” for several schemes for farmers like the Kisan Credit Card scheme.
Claiming that around three lakh farmers had so far committed suicide due to financial distress, Basudeb Acharia (CPI-M) said: “The Government knew about the loot of thousands of crores meant for the farmers but did not take any action. Why was no action takenIJ Who was protecting these lootersIJ”
Anant Geete (Shiv Sena) said those who have swindled the money from the scheme needed to be given the strictest of punishments as their “loot” had led to suicide by a large number of farmers.
Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda (JD-S) said the main beneficiaries of the scheme were actually the big landlords who had reaped the benefits in the name of their tenants or landless farmers.
lalu Prasad Yadav (RJD) said the alleged scam showed how the bureaucracy looted public money at a time when the political class was being blamed for corruption.
Sanjay Nirupam (Cong) said the Government had brought the scheme with good intentions, but lapses have been found in its implementation as the administrative system is six decades old.
Responding to the debate, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said: “I share the sentiments of the members. It is not only a matter of grave concern but it is a matter of shame.”