Rajasthan Budget 2018: Vasundhara Raje waives overdue farm loans up to Rs 50K

NEW DELHI: Rajasthan has announced a one-time waiver of loans up to Rs 50,000, overdue to cooperative banks from small and marginal farmers. Presenting the last state budget of her administration, chief minister Vasundhara Raje told the state assembly on Monday that the decision would cost the state Rs 8,000 crore.

Raje announced setting up a farmer loan relief commission to help farmers to get relief, based on eligibility. She also announced constitution of a farmers’ debt relief commission to work as a permanent institution to help farmers to get relief after presenting their case before it.

The state, reeling under farm crisis, had recently saw BJP’s defeat in Ajmer and Alwar Lok Sabha bypolls and in Mandalgarh Vidhan Sabha seat. The Opposition has been raising issues of farmer suicides that had increased over the last few years due to debt and low prices farm products fetch Following the Union Budget, Raje had said that the state would aim to double farmers’ income by 2022. Apart from the loan waiver, a new railway line in western Rajasthan, free sanitary napkins for girls in government schools, scooties for meritorious female students and sops for pregnant women were other highlights of Raje’s budget. She also announced that her government would construct 15 km of roads in each of the 200 assembly constituencies and 21,614 km roads to strengthen rural infrastructure.

Former Congress chief minister Ashok Gehlot, however, called the budget disappointing. “Disappointing for all sections of society. BJP Govt is only talking about farmers, it does not desire to do anything concrete for them. They are not even receiving the right price for their produce. Farmers need a full loan waiver, but they received only disappointment,” tweeted Gehlot.