Context:
According to Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister of Agriculture, it would abide by whatever going happen as a result of the Supreme Court directive regarding the indefinite hunger strike by farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal.
Key Highlights:
- Their demands include a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) as well as farm loan waiver.
- A farm loan waiver is the central or state government’s relief measure for farmers who are incapable of repaying their loans due to either devastating natural calamities or poor monsoons. The government takes the liability from the farmer and repays the banks.
Some Government Loan Waiver Schemes
- Agricultural and Rural Debt Relief (ARDR) program
- The first farm loan waiver in India, introduced in 1990, offered relief of up to Rs 10,000 to farmers.
- Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme (ADWDRS)
- Was announced in 2008, this scheme offered a complete waiver to marginal and small farmers, and a 25% relief to other farmers.
- State government loan waivers
- Between 2014 and 2022, various state governments announced loan waivers worth Rs 2.52 lakh crore.
