Committee on farm loan to give report by Nov 10: Min

Jaipur: The 11-member committee formed to study the proposal for farm loan waver up to Rs 50,000 has held its first meeting on Friday. The Raje-government formed the committee in the aftermath of widespread agitation by farmers under the CPM affiliated All India Kisan Sabha.

Chairman of the committee and water resources minister Dr Ram Pratap said, the state government is 'serious' about the demand of farmers and official delegations will soon go to other states where such measures have already been undertaken. The delegation is expected to submit its report by November 10, he said.

However, the first meeting was marked by absence of many members.

When asked about the absence of the members, the committee chairman said that next time it will ensure that all the members of the committee are present at the meeting.

He said that it was only an informal meeting.

When asked about why no farmers union representatives were invited he said it was only an informal meeting and not necessary at this stage.

The government said the committee would first study how others states like UP, MP, Maharashtra and Kerala have implemented farm loan waivers.

A member of the committee industry minister, Rajpal Singh Shekawat said what the official delegation asked to study was the 'stress level of debt' at other states and Rajasthan. The purpose is to study to ascertain net benefit of the farmer accrued through such waive offs.

This he said is different from state to state depending on the level of subsidy, incentives, interest subvention etc.