CM Palaniswami announces crop loan waiver worth Rs 12k crore in Tamil Nadu

Chief Minister K Palaniswami announced the waiver on Rs. 12,110 cr crop loans for the farmers who borrowed from cooperative banks. According to the Chief Minister, this move is to benefit over 16.43 lakhs farmers. The CM said that this announcement was intended to ease the burden of the farmers.

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Chennai: Chief Minister K Palaniswami announced the waiver on Rs. 12,110 cr crop loans for the farmers who borrowed from cooperative banks. According to the Chief Minister, this move is to benefit over 16.43 lakh farmers. 

The announcement came as an addition to the earlier one, which promised Rs 1,117 cr as compensation for damaged crops and supposedly will help around 11 lakh farmers.

CM Palaniswami said that this was intended to ease the burden of the farmers who have been struggling owing to the pandemic, two cyclones and the unusual rains in the most of January. 

Remembering his roots as a farmer, Palaniswami said that he always understood the farming community's woes.

"In 2016, Rs. 5780 worth farm loans were waived off. It's a matter of joy for me as a farmer, that Amma's (Jayalalithaa's government) has waived off farm loans twice, during its tenure," he added. 

Listing the aid to the farmers during their 10-year rule, the Government stated that around 12.02 lakh small-scale farmers had benefited from the waiver and that Rs 2,247 cr was provided as an aid in 2017 owing to the severe drought that year. 

In addition to the loan waivers, the Chief Minister said that cases filed against those who took part in the 2017 Jallikattu protests would be withdrawn, in consultation with legal experts. All charges except those of setting vehicles on fire, attacking policemen would be withdrawn, he added. 

The Chief Minister also attacked the opposition party DMK, by saying that they had been unable to fulfil their promise from the 2006 Assembly Poll which was to provide two acres of land to landless farmers in the state. “The 38 DMK MPSs had forgotten their promise made during the 2019 Parliamentary polls, of waiving off farm loans from cooperatives,” he said.