Farm loan waiver not a solution: Brijmohan Agrawal, Chhattisgarh agriculture minister

NEW DELHI: Chhattisgarh’s agriculture minister Brijmohan Agrawal has said farm “loan waiver is not a solution”, potentially ruling out the measure in the pollbound, BJP-ruled state.

Erratic rainfall and drought is some regions of the country, which affect farm output, have made debt relief promise an important tool for political parties wanting to win state elections. Earlier in the week, finance minister Arun Jaitley told ET that the results in some Gujarat districts highlighted farmers’ issues that the government will “analyse” and “address”.

On whether the Chhattisgarh government will face pressure to follow BJP-ruled UP and Maharashtra in waiving off loans, BJP’s Agarwal told ET, “Loan waiver is not a solution. Plus in Chhattisgarh, the problem (bad debts) is not so much.” Agarwal said farmers in the region had last been allowed a loan waiver in 1991-1992, before Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh. “I was a minister then. We did a loan waiver till Rs 10,000 per farmer. Now in Chhattisgarh, farmers take Rs 3,000-3,500 cr in loans every year and Rs 2,200-2,500 cr is returned by them. Loan waiver is not an issue in our state,” he said.


The minister said the state had instead given interest-free loans to farmers, thereby reducing the input cost in agriculture and increasing farmers’ profits.

“On the issue of the minimum support price, too, though the central government decides it, we are trying to reduce the input cost of agriculture so that farmers’ profits are protected,” Agarwal said. “We are trying to join our agriculture market with national and international markets. Lots of fruits are being imported – we can start processing it. Farmers need to do convergence too – that is move from wheat and paddy and go towards economic crops.”