India cancels small farmers' debt

[dabong1]

India cancels small farmers' debt

All farmers with land of less than two hectares will be able to apply
The Indian government is to cancel the entire debt of the country's small farmers in a giant scheme that will cost 600bn rupees ($15bn; £7.6bn).
The move is a centrepiece of India's latest budget, with the government also increasing education spending by 20% and health funding by 15%.

Widely seen as a populist budget ahead of elections due by May 2009, Delhi has also pledged to control food prices.

The government also said it would keep up work to control wider inflation.

The farm loan cancellations will be offered to all farmers with less than two hectares of land.

Reaction from farmers groups has so far been mixed, with some complaining that the land-size criteria is too strict, and that those with larger fields will unfairly miss out.

Mohan Manidwar of Farmers Agitation Group, which highlights the large number of impoverished farmers committing suicide, said most farmers in the Vidarbha region of central Indian would miss out.

'Price pressure'

Unveiling the latest budget, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said India's annual economic growth was now running at 8.7%.




'Populist' pre-election budget

This figure, which covers the current financial year to 31 March 2008, is a slight slowdown from 9.6% in 2006/07 - India's fastest economic expansion in 18 years.

Over the past year India has increased interest rates and reduced the supply of the rupee to cool this breakneck growth.

"There is pressure on domestic prices, especially the prices of food articles," Mr Chidambaram told the Indian parliament.

"Management of the supply side of food articles will be the most crucial task in the ensuing year."

"Keeping inflation under check is one of the cornerstones of our policy."

Mr Chidambaram added that the government was determined to see India become self-sufficient in food grains.

Mr Chidambaram also announced higher spending on rural infrastructure and highways.

BBC NEWS | Business | India cancels small farmers' debt

 

[Cheetah786]

Election must be around the corner but none the less good thing for the farmers.but as long as farmers are using GM seeds they will be back in the same mess all over again.

 

[Malang]

Election must be around the corner but none the less good thing for the farmers.but as long as farmers are using GM seeds they will be back in the same mess all over again.

I think GM seeds are only being used by Cotton Farmers....

60,000crore bailout for 4 crore farmers amounts to just 15,000 rs .. a pittance .. and often this is the bribe (or/and the interest) they give to get loans...

Co-Op farming, easy loans, river linking, cheap electricity, plenty of water, subsidised products, training and education and participation of corporates etc. is a necessity... or the suicides, imports will continue unabated

 

[ImranKhan]

I actually did a thesis essay on poverty and hunger in India during my last semester for polisci elective course. Feel fee to pm me if anybody wants to read it when they are bored
Pasting some info from my essay, got A- on it yay!

-Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who once admitted that: “Less than 15 cents of each dollar in assistance intended for the poor finally gets to them” (Abraham, 2005, para. 03).

-Transparency International (TI) India found that more than half of those farmers surveyed had firsthand experience of paying bribe or peddling influence to get a job done in a public office (Bhawan, Nagar, 2005, para. 37).

-Despite the fact that India was the 2nd country to adopt the green revolution in the 1970’s according to FAO the number of undernourished and hungry individuals has increased since the liberal reforms of the 1990’s(Baylis, Smith, 2005, pg. 663).

My 2 cents: It is a tragedy when hands that feed the nation aren't taken care of, as a fellow human i can only imagine the suffering of hunger and neglect these hardworking farmers endure, poverty it indeed a horrible thing