Resentment simmers over 5-acre clause

The loan waiver has generated more bitterness than happiness among the farmers in Surendranagar due to an ironic twist, in which long-term loan defaulters benefit, but not those who have been breaking their backs trying to pay off their debts regularly. Sarji Raisinh a small farmer from Nanikathi village has been lucky. His debt of Rs 40,0008212; which he had borrowed from Kheti Seva Sahkari Mandali four years ago8212;has been waived. 8220;I did not have enough money to pay society and I did not,8221; he admits. 8220;While many others borrow from money lenders to pay off banks, I decided not to and that saved me a lot of money. Now many of us will think twice before repaying loans.8221;

A second problem arises from the fact that farmers with more than 5 acres of land do not qualify for the waiver8212;but this does not take into account that a piece of land registered under the name of one person, usually a father, often gets divided among a number of siblings. Jamal Sapra, a tribal farmer from the same village as Sarji, got the short end of the stick. 8220;We have 11 acres of land registered under my father8217;s name, but since we are three brothers, our per head land holding comes to less than 4 acres. Now with this 5-acre clause, we cannot benefit from the scheme,8221; he says, adding that from now on, he will not be as conscientious about repaying loan8212;something he did regularly, even borrowing from money lenders. 8220;This has been a common practice here just to keep our credit record clean, but now with this precedence set, many of us will not repay the loan installments any more,8221; he says.