UPA's loan waiver scheme: Too little, too late

DEBT WAIVER: The story of the debt waiver in many villages seems to have raised only some hope among a few farmers.

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Keywords: Farmers, Loan Waiver

Moonak: There seems to be no respite for thousands of farmers across India who believed that the UPA government's mega loan waiver will change their fortunes.

The list of farmers who received the loan waiver included the name of a farmer Hawa Singh, who got the highest loan waiver. The lowest in the list was a waiver of Rs 666.

The loan waiver has certainly planted some hope in the heart of the farmer, but the crisis in his life is not over. It is only deferred for some time and for every handful of farmers who are happy, there are many who are feeling left out.

Hawa Singh is one of the beneficiaries of the UPA government's mega loan waiver scheme. His total waiver is approximately Rs 1,80,000 against a loan that he had taken way back in 2002. However, since then, he has seen twelve successive crop failures.

"We sold off our tractor, our trolley, everything bit by bit. There was no money for bus tickets. There are times when we went without food," says Hawa Singh.

Meanwhile, to cultivate the land, Hawa Singh turned to the local lender for credit. Against the total of Rs one and half lakh, he had to pledge the year’s crop in advance and also his precious land.

“If I am unable to repay, the lender will take my land and the registry will happen automatically,” says Hawa Singh.

Yet another farmer Kaka Singh and his family is trapped in the web of debt and gloom. Just a month back, his only son lay down on the railway track and let the train run over him. It seems the young man was under pressure to repay a loan of Rs three lakh and this was after selling off part of his land, and part of his house.

However, the question is whether the waiver didn't give them hope.

“We hadn't even heard of the waiver. We knew nothing of the waiver,” says Kaka Singh.

There have been almost seven such cases of suicide in the first nine days of June in the tehsil alone.

“We give 60 per cent of the country's food and have got just 1 per cent of the waiver," says Inderjeet Jayjee.

Meanwhile, business is booming for local moneylenders and there seems to be no official estimate of the magnitude of credit that farmers owe to them. Exploitative rates of interest are no barrier. A farmer Laxwinder Singh needed Rs one and half lakh for a tractor and he got it with just a signature.

“Moneylenders are more dependable,” says Laxwinder Singh.

However, the story of the debt waiver in many villages seems to have raised some hope but in totality the waiver has been too little, too late and too dispersed.