Loan waiver: Will T opt for Maha’s 50k incentive plan?

Hyderabad: Even as it is studying the list of exclusions from the eligibility criteria to implement the crop loan waiver scheme in Telangana, the Congress govt took stock of implementation of crop loan waiver schemes in Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
The state govt looked at 50,000 incentive given to farmers in Maharashtra for repaying farm loans successfully in two cycles.In Rajasthan, loans taken from cooperative banks are only waived but not those obtained from commercial banks, it is learnt.

Finding new ways
While Telangana govt is studying ways and means to implement the crop loan waiver scheme, agriculture department officials gave feedback to the govt on both Maharashtra and Rajasthan models. Sources in the govt said that there is a strong possibility that in the upcoming cabinet meetings, these observations will be placed.
As part of its loan waiver programme, the Maharashtra govt offers an incentive of 50,000 to farmers. In the scheme, which was implemented in 2022, farmers who paid back their short-term loans during any two of 2017–18, 2018–19, and 2019–20 cycles were eligible for loan waiver.
The Covid-19 pandemic also cast a shadow and prevented the govt from putting the plans into action. The incentive was only 25,000 earlier. This was only applicable if farmers repay loans totalling 2.5 lakh.
According to a Telangana govt source, “This would inculcate discipline among the farmers to repay. Maharashtra has formulated the scheme after it assessed how much fund was available.”
While the Congress govt has declared that it is committed to relieving farmers’ debt burden, it is also considering several aspects such as having a govt job and taxpayers on the exclusion list.
According to information obtained by TOI from Maharashtra scheme’s exclusion list, if the husband and wife have separate accounts and both have outstanding loans against their names, wife’s loan will be prioritised for the waiver.
Exclusions likely
Persons paying income tax for income from non-agriculture sources will be excluded from the scheme. Employees in state and central govts, semi-govt, and govt-aided organisations, except class IV employees, will not considered for the waiver.
Members of the zilla parishad and municipal corporations throughout the state are not considered. Members of gram panchayats, on the other hand, are eligible for the scheme.
According to guidelines, any one with a gross income of more than 3 lakh and is registered to pay service tax, will be ineligible. “People who are registered for VAT and service tax and have a turnover of more than 10 lakh from non-agricultural businesses will not be approved,” sources said.
In Rajasthan, cooperative banks implements the govt waiver plan using data provided by the agriculture and revenue departments. Loans of up to 50,000 were considered for crop loan waiver.