By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : The Kerala government wants more flexibility in the Rs.600 billion farm loan waiver scheme, announced in the Union budget.
Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan told reporters here after the weekly cabinet meeting Wednesday that the scheme in its current format will not be beneficial to many.
“In the present scheme, sections of the society engaged in fisheries and animal husbandry will not benefit,” he said. “Moreover, it does not benefit those farmers who took loans but paid it on time despite having to undergo miseries. We will write to the Centre to include such people too.”
Achuthanandan said by the end of this month, his government would prepare a detailed list of beneficiaries seeking the loan waiver scheme.
According to preliminary calculations, close to Rs.64 billion of outstanding loans taken by Kerala farmers are to be written off through the loan waiver scheme.