Haryana farmers set out to thank Sonia even before waiver

Kamal Nath, it is learnt, wanted to know whether the farm loan waiver would be applicable to all crops, the cut-off dates for the waiver, whether the Government planned to go the Tamil Nadu way where the state provides cheques to farmers to write off debts. He asked how the Government planned to stop banks from recovering dues given that it was looking at a time period of three years to provide liquidity to banks for the waiver. His worry: if not implemented properly, the package could boomerang in an election year.

While Railway Minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav had some queries on the price-rise situation, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar praised the loan waiver package.

But after the Budget presentation, the mood in the Congress was clearly upbeat. Sonia Gandhi called the loan waiver package a “revolutionary” and a “historical” step. “Today is a very happy occasion. The waiver of loans of farmers by the UPA Government is a revolutionary step. It is a historic step,” Gandhi told the Haryana farmers who had gathered at her home by then. Even PM Manmohan Singh termed the package as a “very unorthodox response” to raise the “depressed animal spirits” of the farmers, the “biggest businessmen” of the country. “Considering the amount of depression that prevails in the agriculture sector, this is the response mechanism that is fully justified,” he said after the Budget presentation.

“We keep talking about the animal spirits of businessmen. But I think the farmers are the biggest businessmen of our country. They produce essential commodities required by us. If their animal spirits are depressed, it is not good for the country,” he said.