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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Small Farmers of Latur, of 'Water Train' Infamy, Doubt New Loan-Waiver Scheme Will Help -Nidhi Jamwal

Small Farmers of Latur, of 'Water Train' Infamy, Doubt New Loan-Waiver Scheme Will Help -Nidhi Jamwal

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published Published on Jul 14, 2017   modified Modified on Jul 14, 2017
-TheWire.in

The Maharashtra government’s Rs 34,000-crore farm loan waiver may not provide much relief to small and marginal farmers in Marathwada, who are caught in the debt trap of private moneylenders.

Latur:
Venkat Balbim Bhise, a farmer who owns three acres of land in Bisewagholi village, in Maharashtra’s Latur district, is in his early thirties. But anger bordering on fatalism is writ large over his weary face. Venkat owes almost Rs 3.5 lakh, of which only Rs 65,000 was borrowed from a local cooperative bank. The rest was from private moneylenders who charged an interest of 60% per annum. The state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s recently promising to have farmers’ loans waived off has brought him little cheer.

“Small and marginal farmers like me, who own less than five acres of land, receive very little loan from the ‘society’ [primary agriculture co-operative society under the district co-operative bank],” Bhise told The Wire. “The loan is also never disbursed in the need of hour, forcing us to approach private moneylenders who charge a huge interest rate, making it nearly impossible for us to ever pay it back.”

Bhise’s neighbour is Rajabhau Manikrao Salukne, who owns three acres of land and had approached the ‘society’ for a loan of Rs 20,000. However, he was sanctioned only Rs 1,000. “I grow soybean and there is no irrigation facility in my farmland; not even a borewell. How does the government expect me to do farming with mere thousand rupees?” Rajabhau asked. He recently borrowed a lakh rupees from a private moneylender for his daughter’s wedding. The interest rate, as with Bhise, is 60% per annum.

The agrarian crisis in Marathwada, a semi-arid region in Maharashtra that has surpassed Vidarbha in farmer suicide cases, has been exacerbated by consecutive droughts, freak hailstorms, rapidly falling groundwater levels and knee-jerk reactions to the situation by the state government. “The condition of small and marginal dry-land farmers in Marathwada is pitiable. They neither have credit for farming nor any water for irrigation,” said Mohan Gojamgunde, an agriculture officer in Latur. “To top it all off, extreme weather events, such as unseasonal rains and hailstorms, destroy standing crops and push farmers into more debt.”

Five years ago, Venkat owned 4.5 acres of land. However, to repay a private loan of Rs 3 lakh, he sold 1.5 acres off. The next three years were all drought years, which – according to farmers – was a period worse than what had befallen Maharashtra in 1972. “It was only last year that Marathwada received good rains. I thought my bad time was over and took khazagi karz [Hindi for private loan] of Rs 60,000 at 60% per year interest rate to buy a Jersey cow. But within a few months the cow died,” said Bhise.

He didn’t lose hope, and repeatedly petitioned the ‘society’ for a loan. In October 2016, he borrowed another Rs 65,000 to cultivate sugarcane. However, the sugarcane crop needs an annual rainfall of 2,100-2,500 mm while the Marathwada region receives only 844 mm. The shortfall is met through unhindered groundwater extraction.

Bhise invested Rs 1.3 lakh and had a 550-foot-deep borewell dug. He borrowed Rs 80,000 privately to purchase an electric motor for the well. “Earlier this year, the borewell went dry and my entire sugarcane crop wilted,” said an angry Bhise. “Marathwada farmers are a cursed lot. We will never be happy. Our children will also suffer like us.” He has since decided to give up farming and work as a daily wager. His wife is already employed as farm-labour and earns Rs 100 a day.

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TheWire.in, 13 July, 2017, https://thewire.in/157051/latur-marathwada-farm-debt-loan-rains/


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