-The Economic Times Despite substantial increase in agriculture production and productivity levels over the years, farmers’ indebtedness has not changed significantly. According to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey (Nafis) 2016-17, 52.5% of agricultural households were indebted. Considerable efforts have been taken in channelising institutional credit to farmers and raising farm credit disbursement targets, with allocations increasing by Rs 1 lakh crore in...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Will farm loan waiver go the way of the property tax repeal? -Indira Rajaraman
-Livemint.com All recent reforms mooted on farm credit do not address the needs of farmers for whom formal credit doors are shut Farm distress has been a sadly persistent feature for the past five years, the initial two years on account of failed rains, but in the last three years because of policy failure on a number of fronts, including, most visibly, unremunerative prices for farm produce. That it shapes electoral...
More »Farm loan waivers can derail India's growth story -Ramesh Chand
-Hindustan Times Loan waiver provides strong disincentive for those who repaid loan on time and perverse incentive for default. But the most serious effect of the waiver is potential risk of fiscal slippage . India’s agricultural economy witnessed significant changes during the post reforms period, many of which were positive, but some were negative. Income of farmers could not keep pace with their aspirations and fast growth in the income of non-farm...
More »Modi govt to announce Rs 4,000 per acre direct transfer, crop loan at 0% in two-fold farm relief; to cost Centre Rs 2.3 lakh crore -Anilesh S Mahajan & Rajeev Dubey
-BusinessToday.in DBT scheme draft requires states to share burden 70:30, but states are in no mood to bear the burden. Centre will likely announce direct benefit transfer (DBT) worth Rs 4,000 per acre per season plus interest-free crop loan up to Rs 1 lakh per farmer in an instant two-fold relief to the farmers, sources in the know told BusinessToday.In. The initiatives will cost the Centre Rs 2 lakh crore towards DBT...
More »Prof. Abhijit Sen, a former member of the erstwhile Planning Commission, interviewed by M Rajshekhar (Scroll.in)
-Scroll.in The former Planning Commission member explains why the country needs to tread carefully on this idea. On January 1, when Indian news agency ANI asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the government’s plans to reduce agrarian distress, he said loan waivers do not work as a very small segment of farmers take loans from banks. “A majority of them take loans from money lenders,” said Modi. “When governments make such announcements,...
More »