Reports stated that after being accused of withdrawing lakhs of rupees deposited under the loan waiver scheme from the accounts of Karnataka farmers, the state government has decided to waive all eligible farm loans in one go. Accordingly Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, on Wednesday announced that loans of 2,28,961 farmers amounting to Rs 4,617.31 crore will be released in a single phase across the state.
A spokesperson with the Chief Minister’s Office said “The money was to be released in two phases but that decision has been changed. So far, several farmers have availed of the scheme and we will release the remaining money in one go and is expected to be complete within the next couple of months". Furthermore according to data obtained from the CMO, 2,82,230 farmers are eligible for restructured loan waiver amounting to Rs 2,812 crore; overdue loans amounting to Rs 3,057 crore of 2,76,286 farmers; NPA loans amounting to Rs 965.72 crore of 1,08,136 eligible farmers.
Moreover as many as 9,78,052 farmers across the state were considered eligible under the Crop Loan Waiver Scheme. Perhaps the total cost of the loans was pegged at Rs 8,547 crore of which, Rs 3,930 crore has already been waived, the data suggests. Currently the Department has Rs 1,219.83 crore remaining and requires Rs 3,397.48 crore funds to reimburse all eligible farmers, whose loans have not been waived.
