Haryana farmers have outstanding loans of over Rs 3,631 crore till March 2022; Karnal district tops list

The details emerged during the ongoing Budget session of the state Assembly when INLD MLA Abhay Chautala asked about the outstanding agricultural loans to the state and the district-wise details of the number of farmers with dues.

Agricultural loan of Rs 2,93,291.08 lakh is outstanding against 3,06,127 farmers as on March 31, 2022 in the state. (File)

Written by: Varinder Bhatia

5 min readChandigarhMar 18, 2023 10:40 AM IST First published on: Mar 17, 2023 at 06:43 PM IST

As many as 3.65 lakh farmers in Haryana have outstanding loans totalling over Rs 3,631 crore as of March 31, 2022 with those from Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s constituency of Karnal owing the highest amount to the State Cooperative Apex Bank.
The details emerged during Question Hour in the ongoing Budget session of the Assembly Friday when Abhay Chautala, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLA from Ellenabad, sought to know details of outstanding agricultural loans to the state and the district-wise details of the number of farmers who have dues.

Replying to Abhay Chautala’s question, cooperation minister Dr Banwari Lal said, “Agricultural loan of Rs 2,93,291.08 lakh is outstanding against 3,06,127 farmers as on March 31, 2022 in the state. This loan amount was given by the Haryana State Cooperative Apex Bank. A loan of Rs 69,878.98 lakh is outstanding against 59,354 farmers given by Haryana State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank as on March 31, 2022”.

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The district-wise outstanding amounts are as follows: Karnal (outstanding loan amount of over Rs 357.11 crore to be recovered from 38,275 farmers), Ambala (155.08 crore from 10,158 farmers), Bhiwani (156.10 crore from 18,969 farmers), Faridabad (230.07 crore from 20,463 farmers), Gurugram (74.42 crore from 4,858 farmers), Hisar (257.49 crore from 24,083 farmers), Jind (201.63 crore from 22,392 farmers), Kaithal (225.39 crore from 22,936 farmers), Kurukshetra (147.78 crore from 9,600 farmers), Mahendragarh (128.71 crore from 19,317 farmers), Panipat (61.09 crore from 4,235 farmers), Panchkula (63.70 crore from 5,255 farmers), Rewari (62.97 crore from 9,108 farmers), Rohtak (98.89 crore from 15,718 farmers), Sirsa (150.34 crore from 18,407 farmers), Sonipat (171.75 crore from 19,479 farmers), Yamunanagar (85.63 crore from 6,931 farmers), Fatehabad (145.04 crore from 16,216 farmers) and Jhajjar (159.60 crore from 19,727 farmers).

‘Strict action being ensured against illegal constructions in green belt’

Agriculture minister J P Dalal Friday said strict action is being ensured against the construction of unauthorised buildings in green belts on scheduled roads and national highways in the state.

Responding to a question of Congress member B B Batra raised during Question Hour in the Vidhan Sabha, Dalal said over 1,700 unauthorised constructions have been detected and many have been already demolished.

Detailed information about such buildings, whether they are residential or commercial, their construction period, action taken and FIRs registered, was placed on the table of the House.

Batra had sought to know “whether it is a fact that many unauthorised buildings have been constructed on the green belt on the scheduled roads and national highways in the state and, if so, the action taken by the government to remove them in the last three years”.

The reply from Agriculture Minister Dalal witnessed some exchanges between him and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Dalal in his reply said 1,722 unauthorised constructions have been detected, of which 1,523 have been issued show cause notices while 393 demolitions have already been carried out. As many as 99 FIRs have been registered so far, he added.

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Dalal questioned why Congress member Batra was seeking to know action taken by the government only for a three-year period and alleged that the previous Congress government did not act on such unauthorised constructions during its tenure.

Intervening in the matter, Hooda said the minister was not replying to the specific question and was deviating from it. The minister is talking of the previous 10 years, 20 years and is not giving a straight answer, he added.

As Dalal sought to target the previous Congress regime, a combative Hooda said he will give a “strong reply” to him.

Batra sought to know “under whose shelter such construction flourished”. He also sought to know whether FIRs will be registered against the officers responsible for it. He claimed that there were over 2,500 such unauthorised buildings.

Intervening, Speaker Gian Chand Gupta told Batra that there could be some mismatch in the figures but the government was committed to taking action. Khattar, too, apprised the House that if any member of the House comes up with details about any such unauthorised building, the government would immediately take action.

Speaking on illegal bridges constructed on the Saraswati river from Kurukshetra GT road to Jhansa restricting the flow of water, the Khattar said, “The state government has taken concerted steps to ensure dewatering in the residential area of Saraswati river.

Besides this, dedicated efforts are being made to ensure a smooth flow of water. If there is any obstruction in the flow, it will be fixed. Most bridges built on the Saraswati from GT Road, Kurukshetra to Jhansa Road are illegal. Eight bridges were built before 2010.”

In response to another question raised during Question Hour, Haryana Urban Local Bodies Minister Kamal Gupta said Shri Krishna AYUSH University is being set up at over 94 acres of land in Fattupur village of Kurukshetra district.

The government has decided that this project will soon be started by the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, he added.