Only 50% of 3.7 cr eligible farmers received farm loan waiver, says study

Only about 50 percent of the intended beneficiaries of the farm loan waivers announced by nine states since 2014 have benefitted from the schemes, according to a study by the State Bank of India (SBI).

The low rate of debt-write-offs has been attributed to rejection of claims, limited or little fiscal space to meet the promises and frequent changes in governments.

“Since 2014, out of approximately 3.7 crore eligible farmers, only around 50% of the farmers received the amount of loan waiver (till March 2022), though in some states over 90 percent of farmers received the debt waiver amount,” states the study.

Pointing out the fallouts of the ‘flaws’ in the loan waiver schemes, the study says that it has failed to bring respite to the intended subjects, sabotaged credit discipline in select geographies and made banks/financial Institutions wary of further lending.

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Among the states with the poorest implementation of farm loan waiver schemes, Telangana performed the worst with just 5 percent of eligible farmers receiving the benefits, followed by Madhya Pradesh (12 percent), Jharkhand (13 percent), Punjab (24 percent), Karnataka (38 percent), and Uttar Pradesh at (52 percent).

In contrast, 100 percent and 91 percent eligible farmers in Chhattisgarh in 2018 and Maharashtra in 2020, respectively received farm loan waivers.