Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje launched her ambitious loan waiver from Banswara ealier this month. The ambitious project is aimed at providing relief to the 29+ lakh farmers from Rajasthan that are debt ridden. The loan waiver announced by CM Vasundhara Raje is bigger than the over hyped and much publicized loan waiver program by Congress in 2009. CM Vasundhara’s project overshadows the loan waiver announced by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in 2008; it played a major role in bringing back Congress in the 2009 elections. If loan waivers can be considered a winning tool to be used prior to the elections, CM Vasundhara’s plan is surely going to derail the plans of the opposition parties to snatch Rajasthan away from BJP rule. Elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan will be held prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and speculations suggest that the Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections might be held jointly. Whatever be the case, this loan waiver announced by the Rajasthan CM is going to help the State and Central government alike in the upcoming weeks.
There are talks of anti-incumbency in Rajasthan, as experts had earlier given slim chances for the incumbent government coming back to power in the state. CM Vasundhara led BJP in the state realized the need to provide relief to the farmers who were facing difficulties owing to the large amount of debt owed to the banks. The total budget for the loan waiver exceeds Rs. 8,400 crores, while it is going to benefit a total of 29+ lakh farmers across the state. The budget of the loan waiver is almost 7 times of the loan waiver given under Congress rule (Rs. 1,345 crore) in 2009. The Congress loan waiver also covered far less farmers than the one announced by CM Vasundhara Raje; 8 lakh farmers benefited from the Congress loan waiver while 29+ lakhs are going to benefit from CM Raje’s plan.
As revealed by a senior official involved in the loan waiver scheme while talking to DNA, “The scheme is unique in the sense that it not only waives off the outstanding debt of a farmer, but also makes the same farmer eligible for a loan amount similar to the one that has been paid off,”. This means that once the loans have been waived off, the farmers are left with a clean slate. They are free to go back to the banks to get a fresh loan or just continue their activities if they are not interested in a new loan. The maximum waiver allowed to one farmer is Rs. 50,000 which means that small farmers are more likely to benefit from this scheme in the coming days. The Rs 50,000 does not include the interest accumulated on the loan, it is just the principle amount. The government will also pay the interest amount which has accumulated on the loan separately, which is definitely a win-win for the farmers of Rajasthan.
CM Vasundhara Raje seems to have learnt from her past mistakes as she is leaving no stones unturned in order to win the upcoming elections. Raje has a history of being fiscally cautious, but it looks like she will open the state’s coffers completely for the downtrodden farmers. This might be one of the biggest loan waiver decisions in the history of India. Rajasthan has shown love for the BJP in the past and this decision has gone on to show that the BJP cares for its people. A great move by the Rajasthan BJP and CM Vasundhara Raje, and congratulations to the 29+ lakh farmers from Rajasthan as well.