Odisha govt considers alternatives to farm loan waiver

The Odisha government Thursday said it was considering alternatives to farm loan waiver to give relief to farmers and sought a national policy the framework in this regard. "We are not in the ongoing race of farm loan waiver.

However, the state government has been considering an alternative method to the farm loan waiver. We are examining what best can be done for the welfare of farmers," Odisha Finance Minister SB Behera told reporters.

Behera's statement came a day after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said that the state government has been examining the farm loan waiver issue. The Odisha Finance minister also said that there should be a policy framework in regard to farm loan waiver as NITI Aayog vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday had said that farm loan waivers were just palliative and not a long-term solution for the farmers.

Earlier, in June this year, the Odisha chief minister in a letter to the Prime Minister had suggested that the Centre frame a national policy on farm loan waiver. The state government wants that the farmers in distress should be helped in some way or the other if the farm loan waiver is not accepted by the Niti Aayog and economist of the country.

Indicating that the state government would announce certain sops for the farmers in near future, Agriculture Minister Pradeep Mahrathy said: "wait and watch".

An estimate done by the Finance department said that the state would require about Rs 40,000 crore if goes for total agriculture loan waiver while Rs 30,000 crore if the only crop the loan is waived. The opposition Congress and BJP have already announced that they would waive farm loans if voted to power in 2019 Odisha Assembly election.