Accordingly the Karnataka government on Monday announced that Rs 900 crore will be released as a part of the farm loan waiver scheme after May 23. Meanwhile around 1.5 lakh farmers are expected to benefit from the scheme. Furthermore the scheme was introduced by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy in August 2018 and so far, the government claims to have waived farm loans worth Rs 7,417 crore for 15.5 lakh farmers.
Apparently the government had, however, stopped waiving farm loans after the Election Commission issued direction to halt the scheme due to the model code of conduct. Furthermore the EC had stated that the scheme involved monetary benefits and that voters would be motivated to favor the ruling government in the Lok Sabha Elections.
Moreover another major cause for delay, he says, is the transfer of the loan to the legal heirs of farmers who have died. He said “There are also instances of death of the applicants in which case the proceedings need to verified and the land records state that the plot belongs to one person but the application may have been filed by the legal heir of the farmer as he may have died. Such complications are sent to the Taluk committee to be resolved and therefore, these applications by farmers are not rejected but put on hold until their information is verified”.
