Chennai. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay announced in the Assembly on Monday the expansion of the scope of the crop loan waiver scheme for farmers. After the new arrangement, a total financial relief of Rs 6,220 crore will be given under the scheme and 13.34 lakh farmers of the state will benefit from it.
Crop loan up to ₹75 thousand will be waived-
Chief Minister Vijay announced in the Assembly that the entire loan of farmers taking crop loans up to Rs 75 thousand from cooperative banks will be waived off.
At the same time, farmers who have loans ranging from Rs 75 thousand to Rs 1 lakh will get loan waiver up to a maximum of Rs 75 thousand. This change will provide additional relief to 2,38,264 farmers and they will be able to get additional benefit up to a maximum of Rs 40 thousand.
Waiver of ₹35 thousand on loans more than Rs 1 lakh-
According to the Chief Minister, a fixed waiver of Rs 35 thousand will be given on crop loans of more than Rs 1 lakh. This expansion in the scope of loan waiver will impose an additional financial burden of Rs 953.06 crore on the scheme.
Now the total cost of the scheme has increased to Rs 6,220 crore. Till July 31, Rs 5,267 crore has been sent directly to the bank accounts of 13.34 lakh farmers.
'Farmers are our lifeline'-
In the Assembly, Chief Minister Vijay said that his government is committed to strengthening the rural economy and livelihood of farmers. Describing farmers as the priority of the government, he said that reducing the debt burden of farmers and strengthening agriculture are among the major responsibilities of the government.
Big announcement on the occasion of completion of 100 days-
Chief Minister Vijay made this announcement on the occasion of completion of 100 days of his government. The government had earlier also announced relief on crop loans taken from cooperative banks. After this, the scope of the loan waiver scheme was expanded on the basis of talks with farmers and farmer organizations.
With this decision, lakhs of farmers of the state are now expected to get relief from the debt burden.