3 Crore small and marginal farmers to benefit from Chidambaram's Largesse

To give a boost to the agricultural sector, the scheme of Debt Waiver and Debt Relief for farmers has been announced by the Finance Minister, Shri P Chidambaram.

All agricultural loans distributed by scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperative credit institutions upto March 31, 2007 and overdue as on December 31, 2007 will be covered under Debt Waiver and Debt Relief scheme.

For marginal farmers and small farmers there will be a complete waiver of all loans that were overdue on December 31,2007 and which remained unpaid until February 29,2008. In respect of other farmers, there will be a One Time Settlement (OTS) scheme for all loans that were overdue for the above period. Under the OTS, a rebate of 25% will be given against payment of the balance of 75%.

Agricultural loans which were rescheduled and are restructured during 2004-06 as per the RBI guidelines will also be eligible for a waiver or an OTS on the same pattern.

The implementation of the Debt Waiver and Debt Relief scheme will be completed by June 30, 2008. Upon being granted debt waiver or signing an agreement for debt relief under the OTS, the farmer would be entitled to fresh agricultural loans from the banks.

Three crore small and marginal farmers and one crore other farmers will benefit from the scheme. The total value of overdue loans being waived is estimated at Rs.50,000 crores and the OTS relief on the overdue loans is estimated at Rs. 10,000 crores

Source : Press Information Bureau

Keywords