Jaipur, December 19: Two days after taking charge, the Congress government in Rajasthan has announced a farm loan waiver upto Rs 2 lakh. The move is expected to benefit 50 lakh farmers of the state, who had borrowed using their Kisan Credit Cards or from nationalised banks.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, while announcing the loan-waiver programme, said the exchequer would be burdened by nearly Rs 18,000 crore in the current fiscal. He further assured that the administration will take steps to ensure no eligible farmer is left out of loan-waivers -- whose upper limit has been sealed at Rs 2 lakh. Assam Govt Announces Rs 600 Crore Farm Loan Waiver, Nearly 8 Lakh Farmers to Benefit.

The Gehlot-led government has followed suit of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh -- where the newly elected Congress governments announced farm loan-waivers on Monday.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who had campaigned intensively in the three Hindi heartland states, had promised that the Chief Ministers would be revoked by the party if the loan-waivers are not announced within 10 days of assuming charge.

Addressing the press on Tuesday, the Gandhi scion demanded the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre to roll-out a similar loan-waiver package on the national scale. "We will not rest till the Prime Minister waives off the farmers' loans," the Congress chief said.

Shortly after his tirade against the Centre, the BJP-ruled Assam announced a Rs 600 crore loan-waiver programme, which will benefit nearly 8 lakh farmers in the state.

Earlier in the year, the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka waived off farm loans upto Rs 1 lakh.

Amid mounting pressure on the central government, the Centre's think-tank Niti Aayog has expressed its aversion on waiving off the loans granted in the agrarian sector.

Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar derided Gandhi for turning loan waivers a poll plank, claiming that the measure is "not a solution but is palliative". He further added that no other government has taken as many concrete steps as the Modi regime to relieve the agrarian distress.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 19, 2018 08:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).