Loan waiver Rs 23,000 cr, not Rs 60,000 cr: BJP

The BJP demanded that UPA Govt come out with a 10 year plan on agriculture which should be discussed in Parliament.

The BJP said the loan waiver announced in the Union Budget by the Centre is only Rs 23,000 crore instead of Rs 60,000 crore and demanded that the UPA government come out with a 10 year plan on agriculture, which should be discussed in a special session of Parliament.

BJP president Rajnath Singh said ‘undeniable’ reports had put the waiver amount at only Rs 23,000 crore. Since Finance Minister P Chidambaram has been talking about Rs 60,000 crore loan waiver, he should inform the nation from where he got this figure, Singh said.

The so called benefit to the farmers was actually very minimal, he said.

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“If we compare the loan waiver and income tax waiver provided in the 2008-09 budget, we find the loan waiver per head is Rs 4,500. The tax waiver for those who have Rs two lakh income is over Rs 6,000 at the minimum and the waiver for those whose income is Rs 20 lakh is Rs 49,500. It makes a mockery of the claim that it is a farmers’ budget,” Singh said.

The loan waiver scheme was insufficient and ineffective, and has failed to generate hope and confidence among the debt-ridden farmers in the country, he said.

Singh said more than 200 farmers committed suicide in different parts of the country even after the announcement of the loan waiver.