Madhya Pradesh: Farmer Ineligible For Loan-Waiver Commits Suicide in Khandwa

Bhopal, December 23: The first farmer suicide in Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh has been reported, with 45-year-old Juan Singh ending his life after finding himself to be ineligible for the loan-waiver scheme announced by Chief Minister Kamal Nath. The incident has been raised by the Opposition BJP, asking the government to restructure the terms and conditions of the loan-waiver programme.

The deceased farmer belonged to Anjaria village in Khandwa district, said Pandhana station house officer Shivendu Joshi, adding that he ended his life on Saturday by hanging from a tree. Raj Thackeray Ask Farmers to 'Throw Onions at Ministers' if They Don't Listen to Woes.

The SHO told reporters, quoting Singh's family members, that the deceased had an outstanding loan of Rs 3 lakh, which he had borrowed from nationalised banks.

The farmer was hopeful of getting Rs 2 lakh of the stated amount being waived off if the Congress gets elected to power. However, the new government decided to waive off only those loans which were taken before March 31, 2018.

Since Singh had taken the loans after the said date, he was declared ineligible for the loan-waiver package. Depressed after finding this out, the farmer ended up committing suicide, the police officer said.

A day before Singh ended his life, former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan had criticised the government for setting a cut-off date for loan-waivers. Chouhan had demanded Nath to waive off all the loans, irrespective of the date they were credited into the farmers' bank accounts.

The government, however, citing fiscal concerns, has fixed March 31, 2018 as cut-off date. The scheme, in its present form, is expected to benefit 35 lakh farmers in the state.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 23, 2018 04:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).