New Delhi: In a significant move to provide relief to debt-laden farmers, the Government on Friday cleared a Rs 16,978 crore rehabilitation package for 31 districts.
The package will be spread over four states, which witnessed suicides, by farmers.
The districts in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala would get a subsidy package of Rs 10,579 crore and a loan component of Rs 6,399 crore, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The package, which will be implemented over a period of three years, will be given to 16 districts of Andhra Pradesh, six in Karnataka, three in Kerala and six in Maharashtra, Chidambaram said.
While Andhra Pradesh would be allocated Rs 9,650 crore, Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra would get Rs 765 crore, Rs 2,689 crore and Rs 3,873 crore respectively under the package, he added.
Chidambaram also said under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund Rs 3,207 crore would be provided for setting up 2,565 mini-irrigation projects and Rs 832 crore for setting up 13 medium-irrigation projects.
A sum of Rs 5,697 crore would also be provided under the fund for setting up 12 major irrigation projects, he added.
He further said, the decision for implementation of the rehabilitation package will help in mitigating the distress faced by the farmers in the identified districts.
This would also check the spate of suicides, he said, adding, "it will also reduce the vulnerability of the farmers to the natural calamities".
The action for implementation of rehabilitation package for Maharashtra has already been taken after the announcement of the package by the Prime Minister in July, Chidambaram said.
The debt relief package for Vidarbha announced by Government in 2004 will be further liberalised to provide relief to the identified 31 districts, the minister added.
It is estimated that Rs 1,296 crore of overdue loan amount as on June 30, 2006, in the identified Vidarbha region will be restructured / rescheduled under the debt relief package.
Chidambaram said debt relief will be provided to farmers and they will become eligible for fresh loans under the package. He said an additional credit flow of Rs 1,275 crore in the six identified Vidarbha districts will be ensured during the current financial year.
He also said a special team comprising NABARD and leading banks will be deputed to ensure that the distressed farmers' accounts are restructured / rescheduled in a time bound manner and fresh credit starts flowing.
The entire interest on overdue farm loans as on July one will be waived in six affected districts of Vidarbha so that all the farmers will have no past interest burden on the date, Chidambaram added.
These measures will make them immediately eligible for fresh loans from the banking system.
Comments
0 comment