Three states corner a third of farmer debt waiver package

Just three states – Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh – have cornered more than a third of the government’s total debt waiver and relief package of Rs 66,477 crore, according to finance ministry officials. The total package, as on date, is Rs 5,203 crore less than the original estimate of Rs 71,680 crore. And the government is estimated to receive claims of about Rs 56,000 crore from the participating financial institutions including Nabard and banks.

Finance minister P Chidambaram today informed Parliament that the total debt waived stood at Rs 50,524 crore. He said the total debt relief granted was Rs 16,223 crore. The total amount of waiver and relief stood at Rs 66,477 crore, he added. According to the minister, 36.38 million farmers benefited from the package. Of this, the number of small and marginal farmers is 29.80 million and the number of other farmers is 6.58 million. Officials said Maharashtra farmers benefited about Rs 9,000 crore while those from Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh got relief of about Rs 6,000 crore each. SBI had passed on the debt relief worth Rs 6,667 crore to almost 3 million farmers. Canara Bank and PNB waived loans to the tune of Rs 1,400 crore each benefiting over five lakh farmers.

Rs 9k cr The amount distributed to farmers in Maharashtra

Rs 6k cr The amount distributed to farmers each in Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh