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MUMBAI:
Aimed at the 'aam aadmi', Finance Minister presented a generous
Rs. 60,000 crore agricultural loan waiver to farmers in the proposed
Union Budget 2008-09. In a special series, 'The Sixty Thousand Crore
Loan Waiver', CNN-IBN evaluates the possible merits, if any, of
this so-called panacea to the rising farmer suicides. Through-out
the week CNN-IBN's flagship news bulletin, 'India at 9', will bring
stories from across the country that look at the state of farmers
from some of the worst-affected areas, including how banks are grappling
and how political parties are politicising the entire situation
in their favour.
The
farm loan waiver is expected to benefit three crore small and medium
farmers, but in fact the figure is nothing like it. The waiver is
in fact only applicable to loans taken from established and recognised
banks for less than 2.5 hectares of land. However, a majority of
the affected farmers either own more than 2.5-hectares of land and/or
borrowed money from private moneylenders. This therefore means that
they are exempted from the waiver and that in reality it is just
a pre-poll political gimmick. CNN-IBN's 'The Sixty Thousand Crore
Loan Waiver', travels to places like Bundelkhand, Vidarbha, Telengana,
Haryana and even the Finance Minster's constituency of Shivganga
in Tamil Nadu to showcase ground realities that have been overlooked
by the government's otherwise impressive grant. Could it be a political
carrot it is dangling before farmers to gain momentum before the
upcoming elections? CNN-IBN finds out. In addition, the series also
lays focus on the growing migration of people from areas like the
Azamgarh-Varanasi belt to the big cities in search of urban opportunities.
For these former farmers, agriculture is no longer an option and
jobs in metropolises seem more alluring.
'The
Sixty Thousand Crore Loan Waiver' is a series that looks into the
reality of the Budget's most hyped provision and how everything
is not what meets the eye!
"The
series is aimed at unearthing the real impact of the Rs. 60,000
crore loan waiver on those its supposed to help. It sheds light
on the plight and state of farmers across the country, for whom
nothing really changes." Said, Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief,
CNN-IBN & IBN7.
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