Monsoon session begins: Budgetary grants of Rs 20,000 cr to meet farm loan waiver Bill

Starved of sources to foot the farm loan waiver bill, the Fadnavis government has also dipped into funds meant for the welfare of tribals and scheduled castes while budgeting for the expenditure on the farm loan waiver scheme. Mungantiwar’s supplementary statement of expenditure shows that Rs 2000 crore from the tribal sub-plan and the SC/ST sub-plan have been diverted for the loan waiver scheme.

The state’s fiscal managers have justified utilising these funds for the loan waiver scheme on grounds that the tribal sub-plan and the SC/ST funds would be used towards writing off loans of the tribal and SC/ST farmers. Earlier, on June 24, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced a Rs 34,022 crore farm loan waiver scheme. Under the scheme, the government has proposed to entirely take over the bad farm loans of 36.10 lakh farmers, who have run into loan arrears up to Rs 1.5 lakh since 2009. It has also proposed a one-time settlement scheme for those who have defaulted on bigger loan payments, committing to pay up to Rs 1.5 lakh. Besides this, the government has also proposed a one-time incentive bonus of Rs 25,000 for the non-defaulting farmer. In all, Fadnavis has claimed that the scheme would benefit 89 lakh farmers.

But with the loan waiver scheme yet to take-off, the Opposition has upped the ante on the government. On Monday too, the Congress and NCP MLAs staged a walk-out when Assembly proceedings began, demanding an urgent debate on the implementation of the farm loan waiver. “We wish to know how is the government implementing the scheme, and how many farmers have so far benefited,” said Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil. NCP’s Ajit Pawar said, “It has been a month since the loan waiver was announced. The government must come clean on the process it is using for implementing it.”

The Opposition members later returned to the house. The chief minister used the supplementary provision made in the budget to blunt the Opposition charge. “We have provided Rs 20,000 crore (in supplementary grants) for the farm loan waiver. My government is committed to farmer’s welfare, and is willing to hold any debate in the house over the issue,” he said.

While the supplementary grants raised on Monday were the highest ever raised in a single session of the legislature, less than 5 per cent (Rs 1502 crore) of them have been budgeted for public sector investment in capital works. While Fadnavis has announced plans for major capital investment in the agriculture and allied sectors, the government’s supplementary demands provided an additional capital outlay of just Rs 8 crore for works in the agriculture, animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries sector.

A provision of Rs 34 crore was made for setting up cow protection centres in each district under the centrally-sponsored Govardhan Govansh Seva Kendra Scheme. A provision of Rs 119 crore was made for micro-irrigation projects under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana. Another Rs 75 crore was set aside for promoting traditional farming. The government has also provided Rs 20 crore for setting up new agriculture colleges at Karad, Jalgaon, and Ahmednagar. For revenue works in the agriculture and allied sectors, the government has additionally allocated Rs 295 crore.

The other major expenditure for which the supplementary grants were raised was compensation to be paid to local bodies for loss of revenue on account of abolition of octroi and local body tax in the new Goods and Services Tax regime. The government on Monday raised supplementary demands totalling Rs 7,357 crore for this purpose.

In May, the chief minister’s helicopter had crash-landed, which prompted the government to look for a replacement. It has provided an additional Rs 13 crore to cover for air travel expenses of the Governor, the CM, and other VVIPs.

Another Rs 516 crore has been set aside for the “development of special amenities and distinctive works” in municipal areas, while the public works department has provided Rs 15 crore for loans towards road construction work. In its contingent liabilities, the government has now budgeted for a Rs 30 crore subordinate debt for the Pune Metro project. A sum of Rs 1.15 crore has been set aside for the renewal of the newly discovered bunker and the beautification of the lawn inside the Raj Bhavan premises.