Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot Writes to PM Narendra Modi, Seeks Farm Loan Waiver on National Scale

Jaipur, January 18: Days after promising the state farmers of pensions and stable power tariff for next five years, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot wrote letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to waive farmers’ loans on a national scale just like Congress-led state governments did. Along with this, Gehlot requested PM Modi to extend the dates for purchasing the Moong crop by the Union government till January 31, 2019, which ended on January 8, 2019.

The Rajasthan took to Twitter on Friday and informed about the letter that he wrote to Narendra Modi, highlighting the plight of farmers in the country and sought immediate relief in terms of loan waiver, extension of dates for buying crops for Kharif season and extending the limits of buying crops. Rajasthan Shocker: Villagers Who Never Took Loans Named as Beneficiaries in Farm Loan Waiver by Previous BJP Govt.

In the letter, Gehlot cited the achievements of Congress-led government which waived farmers loans within days after coming to power. He gave the example of Rajashthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh where loans of ailing farmers were waived by the state government. He requested PM Modi to pay attention to the issue and address it on national scale, the way Congress-led governments are taking care of farmers.

Among the other issues, he touched include the purchase of Moong – prime crop for the Kharif season – by the government. He claimed that the state government met 99 percent of the target purchase, but since the production for the year is high, the Union government should extend both the dates and limit of purchase.

Stating the data, Gehlot sought the Union government to buy 15 percent extra production of Moong – till 25 percent state government bought – as the financial condition of Rajasthan government is not that good. Along with this, the Rajasthan CM sought the Union government to purchase 1.3 lakh metric tonnes – extra production of Moong crop – in their set limit of 2.39 lakh metric tonnes, so that 52,308 farmers can be benefitted. With this, the new limit of purchase by the government would reach 3.84 lakh metric tonnes, and a total of 2,20,218 farmers would be benefitted.

Other than these issues, Gehlot sought the extension of the last date for buying the crops at MSP by the government till January 31, 2019. Earlier, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare had set a date for purchasing the crops from October 10, 2018, to January 8, 2019.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 18, 2019 04:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).