Farm Loan Waiver By Indian State Governments – The Good, The Bad

Is the loan waiver for farmers a good thing?

Everyone’s read about the INR 35,000 crore loan waiver for farmers but what has everyone pondering in s the fact who is going to pay for it? The center claims not to take an initiative and now the citizens are worried they will have to bear the burden.

According to Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the people of the nation will not be passed on to the pockets of the citizens. Apparently, only cuts in the expenditure of the State will be affected. The center will not bear any of the burdens. As of now, only Uttar Pradesh and  Punjab have announced loan waiver for farmers whilst other states are still skeptical about the aftermath.

However, the main question now arises if this is a bad decision in terms of agricultural economy.Officials claim the money that’s been waived can instead be invested for building infrastructure and networks that will help make farmers independent of association of traders and also help them garner maximum economic profit of their produce.

What we also fail to look at is the fact that farmers will be granted a loan waiver for this season but what will they do in the coming seasons when the resources and facilities remain scarce and unavailable? Studies claim this is not a solution to Indian agriculture, it is just a short term solution the state has come up with to bring in a glimpse of relief. Labour market and investment still remain the same, so where is the positive outlook on this in the long run?

Most banks will be taking a hit and what for?  The real problem of our farmers is that they do not have any or much control over the products they produce. There’s always a say in what they can and cannot harvest. Another problem arises because of the middle men who gulp most of the money the farmers deserve.

Why is the State not doing anything about infrastructure for the farmers? A lot of long term planning and effective solutions are still needed to make the process and production of farmers smooth.

(Featured Image: representational)