Yogi Adityanath govt waives off Rs. 36,359 crore loan for UP farmers

Lucknow: The BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh decided on April 4 to waive off crop loans of up to Rs 1 lakh of small and marginal farmers in the state, a relief the party promised before the February-March assembly elections.
About 21 million farmers will benefit from this decision of chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s cabinet during its first sitting. About 92.5% of the state’s farmers fall in the small and marginal categories.
Besides, the cabinet also decided to write off Rs 5,630 crore in non-performing assets (NPAs) of 700,000 farmers.
The twin waivers — among nine decisions the cabinet took — would together cost the government Rs 36,359 crore.
The cash-strapped government would float farmer relief bonds, called Kisan Rahat Bond, to generated funds to implement the loan waiver.
The BJP had promised loan waiver to marginal farmers in its poll manifesto. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Adityanath had said the decision would be taken at the first meeting of the state cabinet.
State minister Siddharth Nath Singh told reporters the decision was in accordance with Prime Minister Modi’s announcement to provide relief to farmers.
It’s a coincidence that the cabinet took nine decisions on the occasion of Ram Navami, which marks the end of the nine-day Navratra festival, he said.
Bundelkhand Kisan Union national president FK Dharma welcomed the loan weaver and said this was the first step towards easing out a major crisis faced by farmers.
But Samajwadi Party president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was not impressed.
The government also decided to go ahead with its crackdown on the state’s illegal slaughterhouses, another poll promise of the BJP that won a landslide victory in the assembly elections. The Yogi government took charge a fortnight ago.
The cabinet blamed rival political parties of spreading canard against the government’s move to set up “anti-Romeo” police squads to check growing instances of harassment of women in public places.
The Sharma-led group will visit Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and other states to study and recommend a new industrial policy for Uttar Pradesh.
The second GoM under Maurya would submit a report in a week on measures to check illegal mining in the state

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