Publish white paper on loans to Farmers, demands Lok Satta

The Lok Satta Party today demanded that the Government publish a white paper on bank loans to farmers during the kharif season.

Talking to the media, party General Secretaries V. Laxman Balaji and G. Malyadri said that the banks had not distributed Rs.12000 crore as claimed by the Government. The banks included regular gold loans given to farmers as agricultural loans and boosted their total loan figures.

The Lok Satta leaders pointed out that the Government had not been able to make banks grant loans to 50000 tenants as planned. According to field reports, banks had granted loans only to 10 to 15 percent of them.

There were no signs of the Government distributing fodder for cattle. Farmers had sold away as many as 8 lakh head of cattle to slaughterhouses, unable to feed them. Power supply continued to be erratic causing untold misery to farmers.

The Lok Satta demanded that the Government convene a meeting of the State-level Bankers’ Committee to ensure that loans were distributed to farmers and tenants as planned, that fodder distribution be taken up on a war footing and that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is effectively implemented.